Japanese prosecutors yesterday said they have indicted Nissan’s former chairman Carlos Ghosn with additional charges of breach of trust, with his alleged misconduct expanding outside Japan.
The indictment was followed by a request from Ghosn’s lawyers for his release on bail, the Tokyo District Court said.
The charges filed yesterday are his fourth, and are the most serious allegations yet.
They are related to payments by a subsidiary of the Japanese automaker that allegedly went to a private investment company controlled by Ghosn.
The indictment was expected and it ensures Ghosn would remain in detention longer. His current period of detention would have expired yesterday if he had not been charged.
The Tokyo District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement that Ghosn caused US$5 million in financial damage to Nissan by siphoning off half of US$10 million that he had a Nissan subsidiary transfer to an overseas sales agent for the automaker in 2017 and last year.
It alleges that Ghosn diverted US$2.5 million in July 2017 and another US$2.5 million a year later from the sales agent to his private investment company for his personal benefit.
Nissan Motor Co said it had filed a criminal complaint against Ghosn related to the indictment.
It said it had determined that the payments in question “were in fact directed by Ghosn for his personal enrichment and were not necessary from a business standpoint.”
“Such misconduct is completely unacceptable, and Nissan is requesting appropriately strict penalties,” it said.
Ghosn, 65, was arrested in November last year. He says he is innocent of all financial misconduct charges against him.
Prosecutors rearrested Ghosn earlier this month, a month after he was released on bail pending his trial, and he is being held at the Tokyo Detention House.
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