Lawyers for ex-Nissan chairman ask for separate trial

Lawyers for former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn said on Tuesday they asked a Tokyo court that he stand trial for alleged financial wrongdoing separately from Nissan because the company is helping prosecutors.

Mr Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in November after Nissan told prosecutors its own internal investigation uncovered evidence of serious wrongdoing by him. The Japanese carmaker subsequently ousted Ghosn as chairman. He faces criminal charges in Japan over failing to report around $82 million in salary from Nissan, and for temporarily transferring personal financial losses onto Nissan's books during the global financial crisis.

Along with Mr Ghosn and Greg Kelly, a close Ghosn associate who served as a director on Nissan's board, prosecutors have also indicted the company itself for making false disclosures in annual securities reports, for which it has expressed regret.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Ghosn’s lawyers also asked that he stand trial separately from Kelly, who was charged with conspiring to under-report Ghosn’s income. Both Mr Ghosn and Mr Kelly have denied the charges.

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The lawyers’ statement did not say why Mr Ghosn did not want to be tried alongside Mr Kelly. Mr Ghosn’s lawyers were not immediately available for further comment. Mr Kelly’s lawyer was also not immediately available for comment. - Reuters