Ex-Nissan Chief Ghosn Charged, Served With Fresh Arrest Warrant

Japanese prosecutors Monday formally charged Carlos Ghosn with financial misconduct for under-reporting his salary and also served a fresh warrant on separate allegations, meaning the tycoon will likely spend Christmas in a cell.

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Dec, 2018 ) :Japanese prosecutors Monday formally charged Carlos Ghosn with financial misconduct for under-reporting his salary and also served a fresh warrant on separate allegations, meaning the tycoon will likely spend Christmas in a cell.

It represents a stunning turnaround for the 64-year-old Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian executive, a once-revered colossus of the auto sector who won broad acclaim in Japan for saving car giant Nissan.

In a move that sent shockwaves through the business world, the former Nissan chairman was arrested on November 19 on suspicion of under-declaring his income by some five billion Yen ($44 million) between 2010 and 2015.

Prosecutors on Monday pressed formal charges on Ghosn -- and key aide Greg Kelly -- over this allegation, which both men are said to deny.

The pair were also immediately re-arrested over fresh allegations that they conspired to under-declare Ghosn's income by a further four billion yen over the past three years.

Under Japanese law, suspects can be re-arrested several times for different allegations, allowing prosecutors to question them for prolonged periods -- a system that has drawn criticism internationally.

Monday was the final day prosecutors could hold Ghosn and Kelly, 62, before either charging or re-arresting them, and the fresh arrest gives them up to another 22 days of questioning.

In addition to charges against Ghosn and Kelly, prosecutors also indicted Nissan itself, as the company submitted the official documents that under-reported the income.

Nissan shares dropped 2.90 percent to 945 yen in Monday trading.

The car baron Ghosn is in a "combative" frame of mind, according to sources at Renault, the company he still formally leads -- even if the French car giant has appointed an interim chairman.

The Japanese firms in the three-way alliance with Renault -- Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors -- have both sacked Ghosn as chairman.

But amid reports of tension within the tie-up, which outsold all rival groups last year, thethree companies last month said they were "fully committed" to the alliance.