Japanese prosecutors 'want Ghosn to sign confession'

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Japanese prosecutors want Carlos Ghosn, the detained auto executive who oversaw an alliance that sold ten million vehicles a year, to confess to financial misconduct, his son told France's weekly Journal du Dimanche (JDD).

Ghosn has been held in a Tokyo detention center since his November 19 arrest on allegations of underreporting his income at Nissan Motor Co Ltd. He is also accused of aggravated breach of mistrust in transferring personal investment losses to Nissan, from which he has since been ousted as chairman.

Ghosn denies the charges against him.

Anthony Ghosn, 24, has not been allowed by Japanese authorities to see his father, who he said had lost ten kilograms in weight eating three bowls of rice a day in detention.

In his first interview since Japanese prosecutors seized his father as he stepped off his private jet, Anthony Ghosn said his father would fight to clear his name.

Asked if his father spoke Japanese, Anthony Ghosn said he did not. “The paradox is that the confession they want him to sign is written exclusively in Japanese.”

Ghosn is set to make his first public appearance in seven weeks at a Tokyo court on Tuesday after he requested an open hearing to hear the reason for his continued detention.

“For the first time, he will be able to answer the allegations against him, to give his version of events,” Anthony Ghosn said, adding his father would appear in prison attire and be handcuffed.

Source(s): Reuters