Carlos Ghosn, Fallen Nissan Chairman, Will Stay in Jail

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/23/business/carlos-ghosn-nissan-jail.html

Version 0 of 1.

TOKYO — Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan Motor chairman whose legal problems have put the fate of a global automotive empire in doubt, will stay in jail for at least the rest of the year, a Tokyo court ruled Sunday.

Under the ruling, Mr. Ghosn will remain in custody until Jan. 1, giving the Japanese authorities more time to question him on suspicion of further wrongdoing while running Nissan. Under Japanese law, prosecutors can ask that Mr. Ghosn be held for another 10 days after that, raising the possibility that he could be in jail until at least Jan. 11.

The court’s decision was largely expected after Mr. Ghosn was arrested on Friday for a third time, this time on suspicion that he offloaded personal investment losses onto the company’s books. Mr. Ghosn already faces charges that he underreported his executive compensation for a number of years.

The new arrest effectively gave prosecutors an opportunity to ask the court that he be kept in custody longer, even as it showed that prosecutors in Japan are widening the scope of their investigation into his leadership at the company. Mr. Ghosn had been set to apply to be released on bail on Friday.

An attorney for Mr. Ghosn in Japan could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday.

Mr. Ghosn has already been in a Tokyo detention center for more than a month. He was first arrested in November on suspicion that he underreported his income from Nissan. Mr. Ghosn and another former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, were indicted this month on charges of colluding in underreporting Mr. Ghosn’s compensation in securities filings. Nissan was also indicted on a charge of underreporting an executive’s pay in regulatory filings.

Mr. Ghosn’s initial arrest on Nov. 19 raised questions about the future of Nissan and its partners in a vast carmaking alliance that includes Renault of France and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan. The alliance sold more than 10 million cars globally last year.

Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Kelly were arrested a second time earlier this month on suspicion of conspiring to underreport Mr. Ghosn’s compensation over a different time period.

Last week, Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Kelly appeared to be close to making bail. A Tokyo court on Thursday had unexpectedly turned down a routine request by prosecutors that the two former Nissan executives be kept in custody while the investigation continued. Mr. Ghosn’s family and representatives had been confident that he would be released on bail, according to two people briefed on the planning. But Mr. Ghosn’s arrest on Friday made it unlikely Mr. Ghosn would be released in the coming days.

Mr. Kelly applied for bail on Friday. His family has appealed to American and Japanese officials to help secure his release so that he can have surgery to treat a spinal condition. It was unclear as of Friday whether prosecutors would oppose the application.