Court rejects Renault boss Ghosn’s appeal for release from jail

Japanese judges ruled Tuesday that Franco-Brazilian-Lebanese businessman Carlos Ghosn would remain in jail, rejecting a complaint from the former Renault-Nissan chair filed after prosecutors laid new charges for financial misdeeds.

Former Renault-Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn has been held in a Tokyo detention centre since his arrest on suspicion of financial misdeeds on 19 November 2018. Reuters/Regis Duvignau

Ghosn has been in a Tokyo prison since 19 November, when he was arrested on suspicion for under-reporting his salary by amounts worth upwards of 39 million euros between 2010 and 2015.

Prosecutors filed formal charges against Ghosn on Monday and added a new set of allegations that dissimulation continued over the past three years, hiding another 31 million euros in salary payments.

Following the new allegations, the Tokyo District Court approved extending his detention until 20 December.

Ghosn subsequently filed a complaint against the extended jail term, which the court has rejected.

Greg Kelly, a former representative director who Nissan accuses of helping Ghosn misrepresent the executive’s salary, will also remain detained until 20 December.

The accusations of financial misdeeds mark a spectacular downfall for Ghosn, who was credited for saving Japanese auto giant Nissan from bankruptcy through an alliance with the much smaller French carmaker Renault.