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Carlos Ghosn granted bail

Former Nissan and Renault CEO has been granted bail of ¥1 billion ($12.6 million), and has vowed to fight the 'meritless and unsubstantiated' charges.


Carlos Ghosn has walked out of jail, 108 days after being arrested disembarking a private jet operated by Nissan.

At 4.30pm yesterday, the former CEO emerged from the Tokyo Detention Centre surrounded by guards. In an effort to evade the media, Ghosn left the jail wearing a blue cap, sunglasses, a surgical mask, and a worker's vest with orange safety stripes.

He was ushered into a small Suzuki, and driven to an undisclosed location.

As part of his bail conditions, he has not only posted ¥1 billion ($12.6 million) surety, but has been forced to hand over his passport to his lawyers.

According to The Asahi Shimbun he can only live in his Tokyo residence, with new cameras installed to monitoring the comings and goings of visitors, as well as himself.

Ghosn is also barred from sending emails on his phone, and can only access a computer at his lawyers' offices, with home internet access disabled. He has been barred from communicating with people involved in his case, including his co-accused.

The granting of bail happens rarely in Japan, and Ghosn has had two previous applications rejected. The former CEO then fired his previous legal team headed up by Motonari Otsuru, and hired Junichiro Hironaka, a lawyer famous for getting acquittals for high-profile defendants.

Although Ghosn may have some of the best legal talent in Japan on his side, prosecutors in the country have a success rate of around 99 per cent.

Hironaka believes court proceedings won't begin until after the northern summer.

Ghosn was arrested on November 19, 2018 after touching down in Tokyo. Along with Greg Kelly, a fellow Nissan board member, he has been accused of understating his salary, shifting currency trading loses to Nissan, and other acts of financial impropriety.

He has strenuously denied all the charges levelled against him, and in an interview in February claimed he was arrested as part of a "plot" by Nissan executives to thwart his desired marriage of Renault and Nissan.

Lead image via NHK

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