4:59 pm, November 21, 2018
NISSAN chairman Carlos Ghosn will be detained for another 10 days following his arrest on suspicion of falsifying income reports by millions of dollars and misusing company assets for personal gain, Japanese media has reported.
Nissan’s board of directors is due to meet tomorrow and decide if it will dismiss Ghosn and the company’s representative director, Greg Kelly. They were arrested on Monday on suspicion of collaborating in the wrongdoing.
Their detention was extended today for another 10 days, Kyodo News reported. It cited the Tokyo District Court, which must grant approval for such detentions.
Greg Kelly
Under Japanese law, suspects can be held for 20 days per possible charge without an official indictment. Additional charges can be tagged on, resulting in longer detentions. Neither Ghosn nor Kelly has been charged so far.
Ghosn is suspected of under-reporting $44.6m (circa £34.8m) in income from 2011 to 2015, according to Tokyo prosecutors.
The maximum penalty for violating finance and exchange laws is 10 years in prison, a 10m yen (circa £69,000) fine, or both.
Detainees undergoing interrogation in the Tokyo area are generally held in a centre that is separate from the prison for those who have been convicted and sentenced. It is supposed to be nicer than a prison but it is austere with limited access to outside visitors.
Prosecutors have not confirmed where he is being held.
Despite the arrests, analysts said the impact on Nissan’s sales would likely be minimal.
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