Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn walks out on bail after 108 days in prison
- Ghosn, a titan of the car industry, vowed to fight allegations of financial crimes that could imprison for as long as a decade
Carlos Ghosn walked out of a Tokyo prison on bail after 108 days in detention, vowing to fight allegations of financial crimes that could imprison the former Nissan Motor chairman for as long as a decade.
Flanked by police officers and wearing a light blue baseball cap, face mask and glasses, Ghosn left the detention centre where he’d been locked up since his November 19 arrest. A Tokyo court on Tuesday granted his release and subsequently upheld its decision after an appeal by prosecutors. His bail of 1 billion yen (US$8.9 million/HK$70.2 million) is among the highest ever set in Japan.
Getting out on bail allows Ghosn to prepare for a trial that’s likely months away. His surprise arrest and imprisonment on allegations of financial misdeeds roiled the two-decade auto alliance between Nissan and Renault and cast a harsh light on aspects of Japan’s legal system. Ghosn initially wasn’t granted access to lawyers and had two previous bail applications rejected.
“I am innocent and totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against these meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” Ghosn, 64, said earlier in a statement.
Ghosn – accused of aggravated breach of trust and filing false statements to regulators regarding about US$80 million in deferred income during his time as Nissan’s chairman – could face as many as 10 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors say Ghosn failed to report the full amount of his expected retirement compensation, and that he transferred a personal trading loss to Nissan.
Prosecutors lodged the breach of trust charge for acts related to payments – from a pool of money that only he had the authority to use – to a company controlled by the automaker’s Saudi Arabian business partner, Khaled Juffali. Ghosn’s team is likely to argue that Nissan approved the US$14.7 million in payments.
“He’s able to collect information and it will be easier to communicate with his lawyers and work out a defence strategy,” said Nobuko Otsuki, a Tokyo-based defence lawyer not connected to the case.
To win approval of his bail application, Ghosn agreed to several restrictions.
