Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn will remain in prison until January 1, 2019, following fresh allegations of aggravated breach of trust. The auto titan was re-arrested in Tokyo last Friday, further extending his detention since he was first arrested on November 19.
Ghosn had been expected to be released from prison prior to his re-arrest on December 21, after a court rejected a request by prosecutors to extend his detainment. Under Japanese laws, individuals suspected of crime can be legally remanded for 23 days, but shortly before his release, Japanese prosecutors laid fresh charges alleging Ghosn had used Nissan to cover personal investment losses of up to 1.85 billion yen (RM69.4 million).
According to Autocar, Ghosn’s lawyer Motonari Otsuru issued a written statement over the weekend, explaining that his client’s actions did not constitute a breach of trust, and that the payments identified by prosecutors were made for work completed by an unidentified person at Nissan.
If found guilty of the crimes he has been charged with, Ghosn could be facing a jail term of up to 10 years and fined up to £4.9 million (RM26 million) by Japanese financial regulators. The Brazilian-born Frenchman has yet to issue any public statement since his arrest, but his defence team has denied prosecutors’ allegations, claiming that they are invalid because they do not relate to his salary but instead to future payments he was expected to receive after retiring.
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Luckily gov here allow court bailouts. Not in prison
He was expected to be released before Xmas, now have to stay in jail until New Year. Reach New Year, another change will keep him jail for another month, and then another and another indefinitely. Their jailing system is much like the abolished ISA here.
Incoming another charges that will keep him until CNY and beyond
Wait lah, come 31 December, another charge & remand order. Happy new year Carlos.