Tokyo court extends detention of Nissan's former chief

The 64-year-old French-Brazilian businessman has been in pretrial detention since November 19 for allegedly concealing from the authorities part of the income he received since 2011, and committing a breach of trust by asking Nissan to assume a series of losses incurred by the executive in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

The extension of the detention was linked to this last accusation, which would have kept him in prison until January 1, before the court approved on Monday the 10-day extension, Efe news reported.

Critics outside the country contend that Japanese regulations allow the arrest to be extended indefinitely and interrogations to be conducted without the presence of a lawyer.

There are three arrest warrants against Ghosn, but only one of them contains formal accusations on the alleged concealment of compensation agreed upon between 2011 and 2015.

The prosecution has not yet issued a decision on the second arrest warrant, related to the executive's income between 2015 and 2018, or the one connected to the breach of trust.

Ghosn allegedly concealed close to 8 billion yen ($72 million) between 2011 and 2018.

Greg Kelly, a former representative Director of Nissan and close collaborator of the former President, was also arrested in connection with Ghosn's compensation scandal.

Kelly, who denied the charges, was released on bail on December 25.