Carlos Ghosn was to learn his fate yesterday as a Tokyo court ruled on his bail request after he vowed to remain in Japan if released and offered to provide more collateral.
The ousted Nissan Motor Co chairman has pleaded for bail after languishing in custody for 64 days as he fights charges of financial misconduct that he has strenuously denied.
In a statement released earlier in the day, Ghosn sought to change the court’s previous judgement that he represents a flight risk and might attempt to tamper with evidence.
“As the court considers my bail application, I want to emphasize that I will reside in Japan and respect any and all bail conditions the Court concludes are warranted,” Ghosn said in a statement released by his US-based representatives.
He vowed to attend any subsequent trial “not only because I am legally obligated to do so, but because I am eager to finally have the opportunity to defend myself.”
The court had rejected previous attempts at securing his freedom on bail and even his own lead lawyer has said that it could be six months before he is released for a trial.
Devon Spurgeon, a spokeswoman for Ghosn, said that his family had already rented an apartment in Tokyo where he promised to reside while awaiting trial.
He has also promised to hand over his passports, refrain from contacting people connected with the case and pay for security guards approved by prosecutors to monitor his movements, Spurgeon said.
She added that Ghosn has also offered a higher bail fee by stumping up Nissan stock as collateral and promised to wear an electronic tracking bracelet paid for by himself.
However, “there is no system in Japan in which a person accused in a criminal case can be released with such a tracking bracelet,” an official at the Japanese Ministry of Justice said.
Ghosn’s arrest has thrown into question the future of the auto alliance he has forged, which has come under pressure in his absence.
Nissan immediately ousted him as chairman after the arrest, as did Mitsubishi Motors Co, the other Japanese firm in the three-way alliance with Renault SA, while the French firm is expected to meet later this week to discuss removing Ghosn as chairman and CEO.
On Sunday, French Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire denied talk of a potential merger between Renault and Nissan, despite reports in the Japanese media that Paris was pushing for that outcome.
“The subject is not on the table today. What is on the table today is the governance of Renault,” he told journalists during a visit to Cairo. “The most important thing for us is to have solid, stable, sustainable governance for Renault.”
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
RSS