News On Japan

Ghosn's lawyers request bail following indictment

Apr 23, 2019 (NHK) - Defense lawyers for former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn have asked a Tokyo court to grant him bail.

The lawyers filed the request on Monday after Tokyo prosecutors brought yet another indictment against Ghosn earlier in the day.

Ghosn was initially released last month after spending over 100 days in custody when he posted bail of more than 9 million dollars. But he was arrested for the fourth time on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust on April 4.

Ghosn was indicted on suspicion of having had the automaker transfer money to a car dealership in Oman, and then funneling part of that money to a shell company in Lebanon which he effectively owns.

He is suspected of causing Nissan damages worth over 550 million yen, or about 5 million dollars.

The previous bail was granted after his defense team proposed a set of conditions to curb possible attempts at destroying evidence.

They included restrictions on Ghosn's use of personal computers and mobile phones.

The court plans to hear from prosecutors to decide whether to grant Ghosn bail.

Sources say Ghosn has denied any charge of wrongdoing. He reportedly is now remaining silent, calling further questioning a waste of time.

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