Ghosn interrogation suspended after he falls ill

Japanese prosecutors on Thursday cancelled a scheduled interrogation of ousted Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn, who has been under arrest since November 19 for alleged financial misconduct, after he developed a high fever.

Ghosn, 64, has been suffering from high fever since Wednesday night and has been advised rest by doctors, his legal team told Efe news.

Prosecutors have been interrogating Ghosn since his arrest to try to gather more evidence about the alleged financial irregularities he committed as the head of Nissan.

On Wednesday, a court rejected a request by his lawyers to end Ghosn's detention after he appeared before a judge for the first time on Tuesday and pleaded his innocence.

Ghosn's defence team had made the bid for his release on the basis that one of the charges against him, an alleged breach of trust of the company, was null and void.

He is accused of passing off a series of personal investment losses incurred by him in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to Nissan's books, but according to his lawyers, those actions were approved by the company's management.

Ghosn is also accused of under-reporting his income by tens of millions of dollars in documents to investors based on an understanding that he would receive them as post-retirement compensation.

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.

His detention has been extended until Friday and prosecutors are expected to press new charges to try to prolong it further.

--IANS

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