The former boss of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, has been granted bail by a Tokyo court in a surprise decision.<\/p>\n
The court set bail at one billion yen (\u00a36.8m; $8.9m) and Japanese media reports said he could be released as early as Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Mr Ghosn has been charged with financial misconduct but has consistently denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The court had\u00a0rejected two previous requests for bail<\/a>, saying Mr Ghosn was a flight risk and could hide evidence.<\/p>\n The latest request was filed by a new legal team, which was appointed by the Brazilian-born executive last month.<\/p>\n On Monday, the head of his defence, Junichiro Hironaka, said he was optimistic Mr Ghosn would be granted bail. Nicknamed “the Razor”, the Japanese lawyer has a reputation for winning tough cases.<\/p>\n Prosecutors in Tokyo were expected to file an appeal against the decision to grant bail, which requires Mr Ghosn stay in Japan and be placed under video surveillance.<\/p>\n Bail is rarely granted in Japan without a confession and the length of Mr Ghosn’s detention had drawn some criticism.<\/p>\n The 64-year-old has been in custody since his arrest last November on allegations he understated his income at Nissan. He has also been charged with aggravated breach of trust.<\/p>\n Mr Ghosn, a towering figure of the car industry, was the architect of the Renault-Nissan alliance. He brought Mitsubishi on board in 2016.<\/p>\n Following his arrest, Nissan and Mitsubishi removed Mr Ghosn as chairman. Renault initially kept him on as chair, and he resigned from the French carmaker in January.<\/p>\n Mr Ghosn was born in Porto Velho, Brazil, to Lebanese parents. He was once tipped as a potential president of Lebanon, a move he eventually dismissed because he already had “too many jobs”.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"