Ghosn ex-NISSAN chief gets $4.5m bail
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/04/ghosn-ex-nissan-chief-gets-45m-bail.html
A Japanese court granted embattled former NISSAN chief, Carlos Ghosn
bail Thursday, meaning the he could soon walk out of his Tokyo
detention centre to prepare his defence against multiple charges of
financial misconduct.
The Tokyo District Court set bail at 500 million yen ($4.5 million)
as the 65-year-old auto sector titan faces four charges ranging from
concealing part of his salary from shareholders to siphoning off Nissan
funds for his personal use.
Prosecutors quickly appealed the court’s decision, delaying his
immediate release but public broadcaster NHK said he could walk out of
his detention centre “as early as Thursday”.
The court temporarily suspended the bail process as it considered the appeal.
According to conditions set by the court, Ghosn cannot leave Japan
and is subject to other restrictions to prevent him from attempting to
flee or destroy evidence relating to the case.
Ghosn denies all the charges, with a spokesperson for the executive
saying on Monday he would “vigorously defend himself against these
baseless accusations and fully expects to be vindicated”.
The spokesperson said Ghosn was being detained “under cruel and
unjust conditions, in violation of his human rights, in an effort by
prosecutors to coerce a confession from him”.
On Monday, he was hit with what experts have described as the most
serious charges yet as prosecutors accused him of siphoning off $5
million of Nissan cash transferred from the company to a dealership in
Oman.
He also faces two charges of deferring some $80 million of his salary
and hiding this in official documents to shareholders, and seeking to
shift personal investment losses to the firm during the 2008 financial
crisis.
A Nissan spokesman said in a statement that the company’s “internal
investigation has uncovered substantial evidence of blatantly unethical
conduct”.
“Further discoveries related to Ghosn’s misconduct continue to emerge,” he added.
Ghosn has already been granted bail once, posting $9 million and
vowing not to leave Japan and to live in a small court-appointed
apartment in central Tokyo — a far cry from his former luxury suite.
Last time he left the detention centre in northern Tokyo, he was
dressed in a cap, face mask and workman’s uniform in an apparent attempt
to evade dozens of journalists from around the world hoping to snap a
picture of the fallen tycoon.
The bizarre stunt was cooked up by one of his lawyers, Takashi
Takano, who later apologised for “tainting” the reputation of his client
who usually appears in public in sharp suits.
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