TOKYO, Dec 31, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn will be
spending the beginning of 2019 behind bars after a Tokyo court on Monday
extended his detention through to January 11, local media reported.
The decision, reported by public broadcaster NHK and local news agency Jiji
Press, comes after Japanese prosecutors re-arrested Ghosn for fresh
allegations on December 21, dashing his hopes of being home for Christmas.
There was no immediate confirmation from the court.
The move comes as Ghosn, who was arrested on November 19, faces three
separate sets of allegations involving financial wrongdoing during his tenure
as Nissan chief.
The growing case against the auto tycoon represents a stunning reversal of
fortune for a man once revered in Japan and beyond for his ability to turn
around automakers, including Nissan.
The twists and turns of the case have gripped Japan and the business world
and shone a light on the Japanese legal system, which has come in for some
criticism internationally.
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 extension that prosecutors won Monday allows them to continue
investigating a complex third claim that alleges Ghosn sought to shift a
personal investment loss onto Nissan’s books.
As part of that scheme, he is also accused of having used Nissan funds to
repay a Saudi acquaintance who put up collateral money.
Prosecutors have pressed formal charges over the first allegation but not
yet over the other accusations.
– ‘Dark side’ –
The extension deals a new blow to Ghosn’s hopes of being released from the
Tokyo detention centre where he has been held since his shock arrest.
Earlier this month, he appeared on the verge of winning bail after a court
rejected a request from prosecutors to extend his detention on the second
allegation against him.
But by filing the new claims, prosecutors were able to restart the clock on
his detention.
The once jet-setting executive, who denies any wrongdoing, was initially
held in a tiny single but has now reportedly been moved to a more comfortable
room.
He has complained about the cold and the rice-based menu, sources say,
though he has told embassy visitors he is being well-treated.
While he has failed to win bail, his alleged accomplice Kelly won a court-
ordered release on Christmas Day.
Kelly’s bail conditions prevent him from leaving Japan, and he is
reportedly now seeking treatment for a spinal condition at a Japanese
hospital.
Ghosn’s lengthy detention has sparked criticism, especially from abroad,
but Japanese prosecutors have defended the legal system, which allows
suspects to be “re-arrested” several times over different allegations.
And his arrest has laid bare tensions in the alliance he helped forge
between Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and France’s Renault.
While Nissan and Mitsubishi swiftly ousted Ghosn from his leadership posts
after his arrest, Renault has responded more cautiously to the allegations.
The French firm has also repeatedly called on Nissan to hold a shareholders
meeting, and is reportedly seeking increased representation on the board of
the Japanese automaker.
Nissan has rejected the calls for a shareholder meeting at this stage, and
says it is waiting until a commission looking into governance at the firm
releases its findings.
The Japanese automaker has also so far failed to agree on who should
succeed Ghosn as chairman.
While the tycoon was once so beloved for his role in turning around Nissan
that he was immortalised in manga comic form, his former colleagues have
since harshly criticised him.
Nissan’s CEO Hiroto Saikawa, a one-time Ghosn protege, has accused his
former boss of accruing too much power and referred to his tenure’s “dark
side.”