Ghosn May Be Released from Detention on Friday

December 20, 2018

Tokyo--Former Nissan Motor Co. <7201> Chairman Carlos Ghosn, accused of financial misconduct in violation of Japanese law, may be released from detention on Friday at the earliest, it was learned on Thursday.

Tokyo District Court dismissed on Thursday a request from public prosecutors to extend the detention of Ghosn and former Nissan representative director Greg Kelly, who was a key aide of the disgraced automotive executive, on charges behind an additional arrest warrant served on them on Dec. 10.

The court decision will not necessarily lead to their immediate release, as their detention on other charges, for which they were arrested on Nov. 19 and indicted on Dec. 10, is continuing.

Still, their lawyers are now expected to take procedures for seeking their release on bail.

The prosecutors immediately filed an appeal against the court's rejection of the extension requests. The appeal will be examined by a different division of the court.

It is unusual for such a request from the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office to be turned down by a court.

On Dec. 11, the Tokyo court approved an extension of the detention of Ghosn, 64, and Kelly, 62, until Thursday. The two have been kept in detention since their initial arrest on Nov. 19. Their prolonged detention has provoked criticism, mainly outside Japan.

The last court approval came a day after the two were indicted on charges of failing to disclose a total of some 4,868 million yen of Ghosn's executive remuneration at Nissan for fiscal 2010-2014, and also served a fresh arrest warrant on charges of underreporting his pay by about 4,270 million yen for fiscal 2015-2017.

The Ghosn side is believed to have been maneuvering to have the undisclosed part of his compensation paid after he steps down as Nissan's leader, informed sources said.

According to the sources familiar with the investigation, both Ghosn and Kelly have denied the charges against them, insisting that there was no obligation to disclose the deferred pay as how much Ghosn would receive after he leaves office was not fixed.

Ghosn has explained that fully disclosing his annual pay could have affected the morale of Nissan employees, while Kelly has claimed that he was handling the matter in an appropriate manner, the sources said.

The Tokyo court is believed to have taken into account these statements by the two suspects, as well as the similarity of the fiscal 2015-2017 cases to the fiscal 2010-2014 cases, before reaching the latest decision not to allow a further extension of their detention. Jiji Press