Carlos Ghosn Banks Include Swiss Julius Baer, Report Says

(Bloomberg) -- Carlos Ghosn has banked with Switzerland’s Julius Baer Group Ltd. for years and the private lender must make a decision on whether to report the link to authorities, according to Inside Paradeplatz.

The fugitive former Nissan Motor Co. boss was persuaded to become a client of Julius Baer by then Chief Executive Officer Boris Collardi, the Swiss banking blog reported Monday, without citing sources or when the relationship started. A spokesman for Zurich-based Julius Baer declined to comment “on alleged or existing client relationships.”

The extent and whereabouts of Ghosn’s finances have become a key piece of the puzzle of how he managed to flee Japan last week in a carefully-orchestrated escape that may have cost millions of dollars to arrange. He forfeited about $15 million in bail by departing the country and traveled by private jet to Lebanon, where he has citizenship.

Interpol has since issued a so-called Red Notice requesting his arrest, according to Japan Justice Minister Masako Mori.

Ghosn faces charges of financial misconduct and breach of trust. He has said the allegations are false and were trumped up by the automaker’s other executives, as well as Japanese prosecutors and government officials who opposed his plans to more deeply integrate Nissan with French partner Renault SA.

A spokesman for Switzerland’s banking regulator Finma declined to comment on whether it’s looking into any aspect of Ghosn’s banking ties with the country.

Japan has previously sought legal assistance from Switzerland in relation to Ghosn.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice, which coordinates international requests, received an appeal from the Tokyo District Attorney’s Office on Jan. 14, a spokeswoman for the Swiss agency said Monday. It examined the request before forwarding it to the Zurich prosecutor’s office on March 8. A spokesman for the Zurich prosecutor’s office declined to immediately comment on the nature of the request or what they are doing with it.

In Switzerland, the governing Federal Council typically orders asset freezes, while the attorney-general’s office can block non-Swiss individuals’ bank accounts if requested to do so by foreign law enforcement authorities.

--With assistance from Patrick Winters.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jan Dahinten in Zurich at jdahinten@bloomberg.net;Hugo Miller in Geneva at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jan Dahinten at jdahinten@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Andrew Noël

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