ZCZC
BFF-15
JAPAN-FRANCE-GHOSN-AUTOMOBILE-COURT
Ghosn detention extended over Christmas and New Year
TOKYO, Dec 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn will be
spending Christmas and the beginning of 2019 behind bars after a Tokyo court
on Sunday extended his detention through to January 1.
The court’s decision is the latest twist in a rollercoaster saga that has
gripped Japan and the business world since the auto sector titan was arrested
out of the blue in Tokyo on November 19.
“Today, a decision was made to detain (Ghosn). The full term of the
detention will expire on January 1,” the Tokyo District Court said in a
statement to media.
This does not however mean that Ghosn can expect to taste freedom on New
Year’s Day, as prosecutors can apply for a further 10-day extension as they
quiz him on allegations of financial misconduct.
Authorities are pursuing three separate lines of enquiry against the 64-
year-old Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian executive.
They suspect he conspired with his right-hand man, US executive Greg Kelly,
to hide away around half of his income (some five billion yen or $44 million)
over five fiscal years from 2010.
They also allege he under-reported his salary to the tune of four billion
yen over the next three fiscal years — apparently to avoid criticism that
his pay was too high.
The third allegation is that he shifted a personal investment loss made at
the height of the financial crisis worth more than $16 million to the
Japanese automaker.
Prosecutors have pressed formal charges over the first allegation but not
yet over the other accusations.
– ‘Betrayed his role’ –
Ghosn’s case has seen several twists and turns since his stunning arrest on
the night of November 19 as his private jet touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda
Airport.
On Thursday, observers were caught wrong-footed as the court threw out a
request from prosecutors to extend his detention over the second set of
allegations (under-reporting his salary between 2015 and 2018) in an almost
unheard-of move.
This raised his hopes of a release in time for Christmas and he was
reportedly gearing up to hold a news conference to put his side of the story
for the first time.
But those hopes were then dashed on Friday when prosecutors sought and
obtained his re-arrest over the new accusations of breach of trust.
“The accused was responsible for managing Nissan’s overall operations and
for dutifully fulfilling his role as CEO not to cause damage to Nissan and
its subsidiaries… but he took action that betrayed his role and caused
financial damage to Nissan,” prosecutors alleged in a statement on Friday.
Since his arrest, the once jet-setting executive has languished in a tiny
cell in a detention centre in northern Tokyo, where he has complained about
the cold and the rice-based menu.
Ghosn has told embassy visitors he is being well treated and sources at
French car giant Renault have described his frame of mind as “combative” as
he fights the charges against him.
His lengthy detention — in Japan, suspects can be “re-arrested” several
times over different allegations — has sparked criticism, especially from
abroad.
– Fractious alliance –
After his arrest last month, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors promptly sacked
Ghosn as chairman but Renault kept him on and appointed an interim boss as it
waited to assess the legal procedures against him.
In addition to charges against Ghosn and Kelly, prosecutors had also
indicted Nissan itself, as the company submitted the official documents that
allegedly under-reported the income.
Kelly, who was also arrested last month, could be released as early as next
week.
Ghosn’s fall from power at Nissan has exposed a deep rift in the three-way
alliance — which outsold all of its rival groups last year.
The tycoon was once revered for his role in turning around Nissan and
forging the fractious alliance, in which Renault remains the dominant
shareholder.
Some executives at Nissan — which now contributes more profits than
Renault to the group pot — were said to bristle at the French company’s
leadership position.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1218 hrs