The Tokyo District Court yesterday said it has extended the detention of ousted Nissan Motor Co chairman Carlos Ghosn by 10 days until Friday next week.
Ghosn, accused of aggravated breach of trust, is facing allegations of making the automaker shoulder ¥1.85 billion (US$16.8 million) in personal investment losses.
The latest extension would see Ghosn remain in Tokyo’s main detention center, where he has been confined since his first arrest on Nov. 19 last year on allegations of financial misconduct.
Since then, he has been rearrested twice over the latest allegations and on claims that he underreported his Nissan salary for a prolonged period. He denies the allegations.
Calls to the office of Ghosn’s lawyer, Motonari Otsuru, were not answered yesterday, a holiday in Japan.
The decision comes a day before Ghosn’s 10-day detention period for the latest allegation was set to expire today, and follows the release of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly on bail last week after a court ruled against extending his detention while he awaits trial.
Ghosn and Kelly were initially arrested in late November and have been charged with underreporting Ghosn’s salary at Nissan over a five-year period from 2010. Both deny the charges.
Nissan’s board in November fired Ghosn as chairman and Kelly as representative director, although both men technically still remain as board members who can only be removed by shareholders.
Ghosn’s arrest has rocked the auto industry and strained Nissan’s ties with its French partner, automaker Renault SA, where Ghosn remains chairman and chief executive officer.
The incident has put the Japanese criminal justice system under international scrutiny and sparked criticism for some of its practices, including keeping suspects in detention for long periods and prohibiting defense lawyers from being present during interrogations, which can last eight hours a day.
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