by Daniel Leussink, Norihiko Shirouzu and Maki Shiraki

TOKYO (Reuters) – Nissan has opened an investigation into allegations by a senior adviser that its chief executive Makoto Uchida had his outgoing deputy Ashwani Gupta monitored, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The surveillance charges, first reported by the Financial Times, were made by 59-year-old senior Nissan adviser Hari Nada in a letter dated April 19 to the independent directors of the Japanese automaker’s board. .

In this letter, which Reuters was able to consult and which reports the details for the first time, mention is made of the allegations of surveillance, deep divisions within management over Nissan’s relationship with its partner Renault and concerns over transfers of intellectual property to the French car manufacturer.

In his letter, Hari Nada, whose cooperation with the Japanese magistrates in charge of the prosecution helped to overthrow former CEO Carlos Ghosn, claims that Makoto Uchida put Ashwani Gupta under surveillance for a long period.

He adds that the surveillance was ordered by Makoto Uchida to give him weapons in order to remove Ashwani Gupta from the group.

Appointed deputy chief executive in 2019, Ashwani Gupta was in conflict with the chief executive over the terms of the restructuring of the alliance negotiated between Nissan and its partner Renault and was seen as an obstacle to finalizing the agreements, according to Hari’s letter. Nada and four people familiar with the matter.

Asked about the surveillance investigation, Nissan said: “Independent third parties have been appointed to verify the facts and take appropriate action.”

The band declined to comment further.

Reuters was unable to determine who was leading the investigation, which began in late May, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Hari Nada does not specify in his letter how he learned that Ashwani Gupta was being watched. Reuters was unable to independently confirm that this surveillance took place.

HARASSMENT CHARGES

Under Japanese law, a company can monitor communications on work phones and computers and investigate an employee’s conduct outside of working hours to protect its business interests, says Akira Takeuchi, a lawyer and certified examiner for fraud in Tokyo.

“In other cases, actions outside of the company may be considered private and an investigation into it may be considered excessive,” he said, stressing that he was speaking generally and not of Nissan.

Ashwani Gupta and Hari Nada did not respond to requests for comment, while no comment could be obtained from Makoto Uchida, group administrators and other recipients of the letter, as Nissan did not comment. following a request to that effect.

Hari Nada also sent his letter to the Director of Human Resources, the Head of Legal Affairs and the Head of Intellectual Property of Nissan.

Nissan announced on May 12 that Ashwani Gupta, 52, would not be reappointed to the board when his term expires on June 27. On June 16, the Japanese group added that it had chosen to leave Nissan to pursue other opportunities.

In his letter, Hari Nada says Nissan has looked into the accusations regarding Ashwani Gupta’s behavior during the week of April 10 and has been asked to resign. He said he understood that an investigation had been carried out by the Japanese legal firm Anderson Mori & Tomotsune into the allegations against Ashwani Gupta.

Three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said the investigation focused on allegations of sexual harassment against Ashwani Gupta made by a female employee.

The charges were made in March and the investigation was not complete when Ashwani Gupta’s resignation was announced, a source said.

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune declined to comment.

DIVIDED NISSAN

Details of Hari Nada’s letter show that five years after former Renault and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn fell from grace, the Japanese automaker remains divided over ties with its French partner.

After long months of intense talks, Renault and Nissan reached an agreement in January to reorganize their alliance for the next 15 years, with a rebalancing of holdings and freer operation, project by project.

The two partners planned to have the final agreements approved by their respective boards of directors by the middle of the year but that goal has been pushed back to the end of 2023, according to two sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

According to a source familiar with Renault’s position, the management of the diamond group believed that Ashwani Gupta was hindering the finalization of the agreements with Nissan, the principles of which had nevertheless been validated by the boards of directors of the two groups and detailed. publicly on February 6 in London.

A Renault spokesperson declined to comment.

In his April letter, Hari Nada believes that Makoto Uchida overstepped his duties by offering Renault concessions and promises through what he calls “backstage arrangements” with his counterpart Luca de Meo, including over ownership. intellectual for which he gives two examples.

Luca de Meo declined to comment, Renault said.

“ANTI-RENAULT”

Hari Nada also criticizes the general manager of Nissan for the commitment to invest up to 15% in Ampère without having demonstrated the strategic interest of the operation for the Japanese group.

Reuters was unable to determine whether the administrators acted on Hari Nada’s request for a review.

This is the second time that this senior adviser has opposed a Nissan executive on the subject of protecting the group’s interests in the context of its partnership with Renault.

Before his arrest in 2018, Carlos Ghosn had considered a complete merger of the two groups. The former leader, who has since taken refuge in Lebanon after fleeing Japan, denounced the lawsuit against him as a coup by Nissan executives, including Hari Nada, opposed to the prospect of further rapprochement.

Hari Nada, who escaped prosecution in the Ghosn case in exchange for his cooperation with the Japanese magistrates in charge of the prosecution, explained at the time that he was moved by the hypothesis studied by Carlos Ghosn of a merger complete between Renault and Nissan.

The senior adviser is a member of two steering committees set up by Nissan after the Ghosn affair to guarantee control of individual actions within management.

In his letter, he believes that one of these committees is currently trying to develop a case for investing in Ampère but has so far been unable to come up with anything credible.

Ashwani Gupta’s abrupt departure could serve as a warning to anyone within Nissan who is seen as less accommodating or anti-Renault, Hari Nada adds in his letter.

(With David Dolan in Tokyo and Gilles Guillaume in Paris, editing by Kate Entringer)

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