Japanese prosecutors question Carlos Ghosn's wife

The wife of arrested former head of Nissan Motor and Renault was on Thursday questioned by Japanese public prosecutors in connection with the latest financial misconduct allegations that led to his fresh detention last week.

Carlos Ghosn's wife Carole was interrogated by the prosecutors at the Tokyo District Court a day after she returned to Tokyo from France, the couple's lawyers were cited as saying by Efe news.

She denied her involvement or knowledge of any irregularity, her legal representatives told Japanese state broadcaster NHK.

Carole had left for France on last Friday, a day after her husband was arrested.

Ghosn's wife had been summoned as a witness regarding a fresh accusation presented by the prosecutors against the former Nissan executive concerning a possible aggravated breach of trust that led to his arrest while out on bail.

The prosecutors suspected that the 65-year-old executive was linked to a series of funds illegally transferred to a distributor based in Oman that may have benefited him.

Ghosn was first arrested on November 19 and released on bail on March 6. He faces three formal charges against him. A fourth was being prepared.

The former executive has been accused of allegedly under-reporting to the authorities a series of salary compensations he agreed with Nissan since 2009 and also of aggravated breach of trust for a series of allegedly irregular payments.

In a video message recorded before his fourth arrest and which was released by his lawyers on Tuesday, Ghosn trashed corruption allegations against him and claimed that he was innocent of all the prosecution charges.

He claimed to be the victim of a conspiracy and back-stabbing by some executives of the Japanese firm over fears that a planned merger of the company with the French car maker would undermine its autonomy.

Head of Ghosn's legal team Junichiro Hironaka told reporters on Wednesday that there were several suspicious elements concerning his recent arrest and there could be an attempt by the prosecutors to pressurize him into making a confession.

According to NHK, it is very rare in Japan for a person to be arrested again after being released on bail.

--IANS

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