Tokyo court approves detention of ex-Nissan boss Ghosn until Jan 11

Jan 01, 2019 | News On Japan

Jan 01, 2019 (Japan Today) - A Tokyo court on Monday approved prosecutors' request to extend the detention of former Nissan Motor Co Chairman Carlos Ghosn until Jan. 11 due to the latest allegation of financial misconduct.

Ghosn, initially charged over underreporting his remuneration, has been detained since November and was served a fresh arrest warrant on Dec 21 for allegedly transferring personal investment losses worth 1.85 billion yen ($17 million) to the Japanese automaker in 2008.

Ghosn has denied the allegations. The previous deadline for his current detention period had been set on Jan 1.

The confinement of Ghosn, who was credited with saving the Japanese automaker when it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s, has sparked criticism from overseas over the possibility his detention could be legally prolonged indefinitely, and over the absence of lawyers during interrogations, a norm in Japan.

Caroline Ghosn, 31, the eldest of his four children, said in an interview with The New York Times his family has been told that his cell is unheated and he has repeatedly asked for blankets.

He has been denied pen and paper and has lost weight, his San Francisco-based daughter was quoted as saying.

Ghosn and Greg Kelly, Ghosn's close aide and a former Nissan representative director, were initially arrested Nov 19 on suspicion of understating in Nissan's securities reports roughly 5 billion yen of the former chairman's 10 billion yen remuneration during the five years through March 2015.

The men and Nissan as a company were indicted Dec 10 on a charge of violating Japan's financial instruments law.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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