TOKYO: Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers have asked the Tokyo District Court to dismiss all charges against the former Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. chairman, saying prosecutors colluded with government officials and Nissan executives to oust him from his post.
Ghosn’s legal team in a press release on Thursday said they had submitted two court filings ahead of a planned pre-trial meeting the same day that list cases of “misconduct” by prosecutors and “factual defenses” that show Ghosn is innocent of financial wrongdoing.
“The prosecution against him resulted from unlawful collusion between the prosecutors, government officials at METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), and executives at Nissan, who formed a secret task force to drum up allegations of wrongdoing,” the lawyers said in the release.
Since his first arrest in November, Ghosn has been charged four times on allegations he underreported his Nissan salary, temporarily transferred personal financial losses to Nissan’s books and authorized payments to car dealers with the purpose of enriching himself.
Currently on bail in Japan, Ghosn is not allowed to contact his wife or use the Internet unsupervised and has had to submit to surveillance of his movements. Japanese courts have dismissed several appeals by Ghosn to ease those restrictions that his lawyers have argued violates Japan’s constitution and international law on family separation.
In September, Ghosn and Nissan agreed to settle claims from the US Securities and Exchange Commision over false financial disclosures related to Ghosn’s compensation. Nissan agreed to pay $15 million, while Ghosn agreed to a $1 million civil penalty and a 10-year ban from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded US company.
Courts in Japan have yet to fix a schedule for his prosecution to begin, with local media reporting that his first trial may start in March. Ghosn’s defense team of 13 lawyers includes four lawyers in Japan who will defend him in the upcoming trials.
Ghosn’s lawyers seek dismissal of charges, accuse prosecutors of misconduct
Ghosn’s lawyers seek dismissal of charges, accuse prosecutors of misconduct
- Ghosn has been charged four times on several allegations, including that he underreported his Nissan salary
- Currently on bail in Japan, Ghosn is not allowed to contact his wife or use the Internet unsupervised and has had to submit to surveillance of his movements
US allows countries to buy Russian oil stranded at sea for 30 days
- US issues 30-day license for stranded Russian oil purchases
- Measure the latest by Trump administration to calm energy markets jolted by Iran war
The United States issued a 30-day license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilize global energy markets roiled by the Iran war.
The announcement comes a day after the US Energy Department said that the US would be releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in an effort to curb sky-rocketing oil prices in the wake of the war in Iran. That release was part of a broader commitment by the 32-nation International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil. The agency said earlier on Thursday that he war in the Middle East was creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history. Bessent, in a statement on X released hours after benchmark oil prices shot above $100 a barrel, said the measure was “narrowly tailored” and “short-term” and would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
“The temporary increase in oil prices is a short-term and temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term,” Bessent said in the statement, echoing President Donald Trump.
Thursday’s license, which authorizes the delivery and sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of March 12, will remain valid through midnight Washington time on April 11, according to the text of the license posted on the Treasury Department’s website. The US Treasury previously issued a 30-day waiver on March 5 specifically for India, allowing New Delhi to buy Russian oil stuck at sea. Among other measures to tame energy prices, Trump has already ordered the US International Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf and said the US Navy could escort ships in the region. In another attempt to control prices, the Trump administration is considering temporarily waiving a shipping rule known as the Jones Act to ensure energy and agricultural products can move freely between US ports, the White House said. Waiving the rule would allow foreign ships to carry fuel between US ports, potentially lowering costs and speeding deliveries.
“The president is taking every action he can to lower prices ... unsanctioned oil that’s at sea to get that into the market, continuing to push our own producers to drill and expand production as fast and as far as they can, providing regulatory relief, and you’re going to see more and more in the days to come,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told Fox News’ “Primetime” program on Thursday.
There were about 124 million barrels of Russian-origin oil on water across 30 different locations globally as of Thursday, Fox News reported, adding that the US license would provide around five to six days of supply when taking into account the daily loss of oil from the Strait. Trump said earlier on Thursday the United States stood to make significant money from oil prices driven higher by the war, prompting criticism from some lawmakers who accused him of caring only about rich people.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent response by Tehran have widened regional tensions and paralyzed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting vital Middle East oil and gas flows and sending energy prices higher.
Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it will block oil shipments from the Gulf unless the US and Israeli attacks cease.
