Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn faces new charges of aggravated breach of trust | News | DW | 21.12.2018

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Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn faces new charges of aggravated breach of trust

Japanese prosecutors have reportedly added new charges against Carlos Ghosn. The move comes after a court rejected a request to extend the former Nissan chairman's detention on charges of underreporting his income.

Carlos Ghosn

Japanese prosecutors have again arrested former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn on new charges of aggravated breach of trust, according to media.

The Kyodo news agency reported that the prosecutors based their new charges on suspicions that Ghosn, who was the chairman of Nissan until the company ousted him in November, made the automaker cover personal investment losses of about 1.85 billion yen in 2008.

The arrest means that Ghosn could be detained for another 10 days in a Tokyo jail as prosecutors investigate the new charge.

Ghosn's lawyers were hoping to get him released on bail, possibly as early as Friday, after a Tokyo court rejected a bid by Japanese prosecutors to extend his detention.

A month detained

The 64-year-old was initially arrested on November 19 and charged with underreporting his income from 2010 to 2015 and was later charged with the same crime covering the past three years. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

There was no immediate word on Greg Kelly, a former representative director for Nissan who was arrested along with Ghosn and accused of conspiring with him. 

Read more: Nissan seeks to block disgraced chairman from Rio apartment

Ghosn's arrest marks the dramatic downfall of a man credited with rescuing Nissan from bankruptcy in the late 1990s. He was the mastermind behind the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, a strategic automotive partnership, and chaired all three companies until recently.

The boards of Nissan and Mitsubishi dismissed Ghosn as chairman after his arrest in November; he still holds the position at Renault, though the French carmaker has appointed an interim chairman.

As part of the affair, Nissan has also been charged with making false statements in annual reports.

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dv/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)

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