‘She never intended to run away from anybody’, Carole Ghosn’s lawyer says (Kazuhiro NOGI)

Paris (AFP) – The wife of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has returned to Japan where she is to be questioned by prosecutors about her husband’s alleged financial misconduct, the couple’s lawyer said Wednesday.

Carole Ghosn left Japan last week after fresh accusations against her husband emerged, saying she felt “in danger” after Japanese media reported that prosecutors wanted to talk to her.

Prosecutors rearrested Ghosn on April 4, saying they were investigating transfers of Nissan funds totalling $15 million between late 2014 and the middle of 2018 to a dealership in Oman.

His lawyers have appealed his ongoing detention.

Carole Ghosn “has returned to Japan”, the couple’s lawyer Francois Zimeray told AFP. “That is proof that she never intended to run away from anybody.”

He said Tokyo prosecutors would now question her as a witness. “It’s important for her to be there and do nothing that could harm her husband,” Zimeray said.

According to the Kyodo news agency, Tokyo investigators suspect that allegedly syphoned funds for Carlos Ghosn’s personal use transited through a company run by Carole Ghosn.

Prosecutors put at $5 million the amount of funds misused for Ghosn’s personal benefit including for the purchase of a yacht.

A court granted a request from prosecutors to extend Ghosn’s detention to April 14. They can then request an additional 10-day detention period after which they will have to release Ghosn unless they either charge him or level new allegations.

Ghosn already faces three formal charges: two of deferring his salary and concealing that in official shareholders’ documents, and a further charge of seeking to shift investment losses to the firm.

He said in a video played Tuesday that he was innocent of all charges against him.

“This is about a plot, this is about conspiracy, this is about backstabbing,” he said.

Carole Ghosn managed to leave Japan last week using an American passport after Japanese police confiscated her Lebanese passport.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.