TOKYO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A Tokyo court on Tuesday denied granting bail to former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, following the automotive executive being slapped with two fresh charges last week.
Following being charged with under-reporting his remuneration in Nissan's securities reports presented to Japanese regulators during the three years through March 2018, and for aggravated breach of trust for the alleged transfer of private investment losses to Nissan amid the 2008 global financial crisis, bail was requested by Ghosn's lawyers on Friday.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, had until Friday to decide whether or not to indict Ghosn as his time at the detention facility in Tokyo was scheduled to end the same day if no further charges were added, as per the ruling of the Tokyo District Court.
Investigations into Ghosn's cases being still ongoing and the fact that Ghosn had been adjudged to be a flight risk who may tamper with evidence, likely factored into his bail being rejected, sources close to the matter said Tuesday.
They also said that his lawyers had asked that Ghosn, who holds Brazilian, French and Lebanese citizenship and has been kept at the Tokyo Detention House facility since his arrest on Nov. 19, be allowed to return to France on the promise he shows up to court in Japan at the requisite time.
Ghosn's chief lawyer had previously said that his client could theoretically be detained for six months or more, citing the complexities of the case and said that bail is unlikely to be granted as he has unequivocally denied all allegations against him.
The case, which has rocked both the global automotive as well as the business world in general, has brought into focus Japan's judiciary system. Critics have pointed out that suspects here can effectively be detained by prosecutors indefinitely in pursuit of a confession with successive indictments.
