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TEHRAN, Mar 06 -Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn walked out of a Tokyo prison on a $9 million bail on Wednesday, slipping past reporters in a face mask and moving closer to mounting a defense against financial misconduct charges that he has called “meritless”.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Ghosn, among the world’s most prominent auto executives whose dramatic rescue of Nissan two decades ago made him a celebrity in the industry and in Japan, was barely recognizable as he left Tokyo Detention House where he had been detained for more than 100 days in a small cell with no heating.
Surrounded by security guards and dressed in a workman’s uniform and a blue cap, Ghosn’s face was obscured by thick glasses and the surgical-type mask, a far cry from his usual tailored suits. He managed to avoid many of the reporters camped at the site before being whisked away in a small Suzuki van.
Ghosn paid the 1 billion yen ($9 million) bail, among the highest ever in Japan, after the Tokyo District Court rejected a last-ditch appeal by prosecutors to keep him in jail.
Ghosn, also the former chairman of Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, has agreed to strict bail conditions and given assurances he will remain in Tokyo, surrender his passport to his lawyer and submit to extensive surveillance.
He has agreed to set up cameras at the entrances and exits to his residence, and is prohibited from using the internet or sending and receiving text messages. Ghosn is also banned from communicating with parties involved in his case, and permitted computer access only at his lawyer’s office.
He faces charges of aggravated breach of trust and under-reporting his salary by about $82 million at Nissan for nearly a decade. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum jail sentence of 15 years, prosecutors have said.
“I am innocent and totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against these meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The finance minister of France welcomed Ghosn’s release, saying the executive would now be able to defend himself “with greater ease”. Ghosn holds a French citizenship.
Source: Reuters
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