Published 20:59 IST, January 23rd 2020
Japanese prosecutors slam Ghosn's previous '8 hours interrogation' claim
Japanese prosecutors have reportedly hit back at claims made by former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn that he was interrogated for 'up to eight hours per day'.
Japanese prosecutors reportedly have hit back at claims made by former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn that he was interrogated for 'up to eight hours per day' during questioning over financial misconduct allegations. Earlier, Ghosn has reportedly said that he had spent previous months being interrogated up to eight hours a day without any lawyers present, without an understanding of exactly what he was being accused of, without access to the evidence.
However, the Deputy head of the Tokyo district public prosecutors' office reportedly said that Ghosn's claims were clearly false and designed to fool the media.
Takahiro Saito, the deputy's head added Ghosn spent 130 days in detention and was questioned in total on 70 of those days. He reportedly said he was questioned for less than four hours per day. According to an international media outlet, Takahiro claimed that Ghosn's time at detention was all recorded and would have been used as evidence for a judgement. In such conditions, if the authorities were extracting confessions by force, it would be visible, he said.
Ghosn's improbable escape had perplexed and embarrassed Japanese authorities as he skipped bails and managed to flee the country despite supposedly rigorous surveillance. According to international media reports, the fugitive used bullet train and a private jet to escape Japan. He was awaiting trial in Japan on financial misconduct charges and was not allowed to contact his wife but she reportedly played an important role in planning his escape.
Corporate money for private use
Japanese tax officials found out that the former Nissan executive diverted corporate money for his private use. The National Tax Agency of Japan had reached the conclusion that Ghosn made donations to a Lebanese University and paid consultant’s fees to his sister using Nissan money. The tax agency had ordered Nissan to pay taxes on the 150 million yen, which was recorded as office expenses for three years since they determined that money was spent for private purpose.
Carlos Ghosn served as chairman and CEO of Renault as well as chairman of Mitsubishi Motors. He was also the chairman of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, a strategic partnership between the automobile manufacturers. It is said that Ghosn was working on strengthening Nissan’s relationship with Renault when he got arrested in November last year.
Updated 20:59 IST, January 23rd 2020