The Tokyo District Court said on Monday it has extended the detention of ousted Nissan Motor Co chairman Carlos Ghosn by 10 days until Jan. 11.
Ghosn, accused of aggravated breach of trust, is facing allegations of making the car maker shoulder 1.85 billion yen ($16.8 million) in personal investment losses.
The latest extension would see Ghosn remain in Tokyo’s main detention center, where he has been confined since his first arrest on Nov. 19 on allegations of financial misconduct.
Since then, he has been re-arrested twice over the latest allegations and on claims that he underreported his Nissan salary for a prolonged period.
He denied the allegations.
Calls to the office of Ghosn’s lawyer, Motonari Otsuru, were not answered on Monday, a holiday in Japan.
The decision comes a day before Ghosn’s 10-day detention period for the latest allegation was set to expire on Tuesday.
It follows the release of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly on bail last week after a court ruled against extending his detention while he awaits trial.
Both Ghosn and Kelly were initially arrested in late November and have been charged with underreporting Ghosn’s salary at Nissan over a five-year period from 2010.
Both denied the charges.
Nissan’s board in November fired Ghosn as chairman and Kelly as representative director, although both men technically still remained board members who can only be removed by shareholders.
Ghosn’s arrest has rocked the auto industry and strained Nissan’s ties with French automaking partner Renault SA, where Ghosn still remains chairman and CEO.
It has also put Japan’s criminal justice system under international scrutiny and sparked criticism for some of its practices.
Such practices included keeping suspects in detention for long periods and prohibiting defence lawyers from being present during interrogations, which can last eight hours a day. (Reuters/NAN)