[naviga:h3]Nissan chairman fired after arrest[/naviga:h3]

TOKYO — Nissan Motor Co. fired Carlos Ghosn as chairman Thursday in a dramatic end to the powerful executive’s nearly two decade long reign at the Japanese automaker after his arrest for alleged financial improprieties.

In an hours-long meeting, the company’s board of directors voted unanimously to dismiss Ghosn as chairman and as a representative director, Nissan said in a statement. It said its own internal investigation, prompted by a whistle-blower, found serious misconduct including underreporting of his income and misuse of company assets.

It was a stunning downfall for one of the biggest figures in the auto industry, a man who helped drive turnarounds at both France’s Renault SA and at Nissan and then managed an alliance between them that sold 10.6 million cars last year, besting its rivals.

Nissan said in a statement filed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange that its investigation uncovered misuse of company investment funds and expense money for personal gain.

Earlier this week, Renault voted to keep Ghosn as its chief executive but appointed Thierry Bollore, its chief operating officer, as its interim chief.

Ghosn, 64, is suspected of underreporting $44.6 million in income from 2011 to 2015, according to Tokyo prosecutors.

[naviga:h3]Gov’t investigating GM for bad brakes[/naviga:h3]

The U.S. government is investigating more than 100 complaints of poor brake performance on 2.7 million General Motors big pickups and SUVs.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says a brake vacuum pump can deteriorate, causing increased braking effort and longer stopping distances.

The agency has 111 consumer complaints including nine crashes and two injuries.

The investigation covers 2014 through 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups. Also involved are Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade SUVs.

The agency will determine how often the problem happens and whether a recall is necessary.

[naviga:h3]More online sales tax collected[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — Shoppers heading online to purchase holiday gifts will find they’re being charged sales tax at websites where they weren’t before.

The reason has to do with the Supreme Court. A June ruling gave states the go-ahead to require more companies to collect sales tax on online purchases. Now, more than two dozen have moved to take advantage of the ruling.

Whether online shoppers get charged sales tax comes down to where they live and where they’re shopping.

Now, states can force out-of-state sellers to collect sales tax if they’re doing a fair amount of business in the state.

[naviga:h3]Burger chain looks into rat report[/naviga:h3]

HONOLULU — A Hawaii-based burger chain has closed a Honolulu restaurant for cleaning after a video posted to social media appeared to show a rat being cooked on the grill.

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers has closed the Mapunapuna location and fired two employees who appeared in the Snapchat video.

“We are horrified that a former teenage employee would conduct themselves in that way and make such a video of which we are investigating its authenticity,” said Richard Stula, the president of Teddy’s Bigger Burgers.

The company initiated a “complete sanitization” and is replacing equipment and utensils at the fast-food restaurant after the video was shared with them several days ago, Stula said in the statement.

The company is consulting with its attorneys about potential legal action against the former employees, Stula said.

By Associated Press