Pretrial procedures start for Carlos Ghosn case

May 23, 2019

Tokyo--Pretrial conference procedures for an aggravated breach of trust case involving former Nissan Motor Co. <7201> Chairman Carlos Ghosn started at Tokyo District Court on Thursday, in the presence of Ghosn himself.

Before a crowd of reporters, Ghosn, 65, arrived at the court around 9:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. GMT), together with his lawyers.

On the day, the disclosure of evidence by the prosecution to the defense, among other issues, is expected to be discussed, according to informed sources.

A similar procedure is expected to be taken in late June for a case over unreported Nissan pay for Ghosn, also involving Nissan as a company and former Nissan Representative Director Greg Kelly, 62, who was a close aide to Ghosn.

When Ghosn's trial will start remains uncertain as the pretrial procedures may be prolonged.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Ghosn in January on aggravated breach of trust charges under Japan's companies law, including for allegedly transferring a total of 14.7 million dollars of Nissan funds to a firm owned by Saudi businessman Khaled Al-Juffali without a proper reason.

Earlier this month, the prosecutors revised the total amount cited in the indictment to 20 million dollars.

Ghosn was additionally indicted in April for allegedly routing Nissan funds to himself through a sales agent in Oman. Jiji Press