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Pedestrians walk past a big screen showing images of Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn in a news program on Jan. 8, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.
Jailed former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is staging a new bid to be granted bail, offering to meet greater restrictions and higher guarantees that include posting his Nissan stock as collateral.
Since he was arrested on November 21st, Ghosn has been detained in a Japanese jail, and has not been allowed to have direct contact with his family. Although he strongly denies the allegations made against him, he remains incarcerated while awaiting trial on charges he committed financial crimes while serving as CEO of Nissan.
In a court petition for his latest bail hearing, the 64 year-old says he is willing to pay a higher amount for bail, surrender his passports, and pay additional costs for security — if that is what the court requires as terms of being released from detention.
"As the Court considers my bail application, I want to emphasize that I will reside in Japan and respect any and all bail conditions the Court concludes are warranted," Ghosn wrote in a statement released shortly before his latest bail hearing in Tokyo on Monday.
"I will attend my trial not only because I am legally obligated to do so, but because I am eager to finally have the opportunity to defend myself," said Ghosn. "I am not guilty of the charges against me and I look forward to defending my reputation in the courtroom; nothing is more important to me or to my family."
Fmr. Nissan CEO Ghosn to request bail from Japanese court
Ghosn's latest bail hearing comes exactly two months after he was detained by Japanese authorities who were investigating allegations Ghosn and another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, did not disclose the full amount of Ghosn's compensation over several years.
Last week, a judge in Tokyo denied Ghosn's request for bail, clearing the way for him to potentially remain in jail until March 10th. Ghosn is appealing that ruling, and has amended his request for bail by offering new guarantees to the Japanese court. Among the guarantees Ghosn is willing to meet:
- Live at a private apartment in Tokyo
- Pay a higher amount for bail and, if requested by the court, submit his shares in Nissan as collateral.
In addition, the former Nissan CEO says he is willing to report on a daily basis to prosecutors, surrender his passports, wear an electronic ankle-bracelet monitoring device and pay for court-approved security guards to monitor his whereabouts.
At a bail hearing earlier this month, Ghosn spoke publicly for the first time about his detention, and denied the charges against him. "I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations," Ghosn told the judge at his hearing on January 7th.
Last week, Ghosn's wife Carole released a letter she sent to Human Rights Watch, decrying the harsh treatment he husband faces while detained and being investigated.
"For hours each day, the prosecutors interrogate him, browbeat him, lecture him, and berate him, outside the presence of his attorneys, in an effort to extract a confession. No human being should be detained under conditions so harsh that their only plausible purpose is to coerce a confession," she wrote.