Lawyers for former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn petitioned a Tokyo court Thursday to appeal a decision issued earlier this week that denied his request for bail, but the court rejected the bid later the same day.
Ghosn has been detained for nearly two months since his initial arrest on Nov. 19 by Tokyo prosecutors for alleged financial misconduct.
It appears unlikely, however, that Ghosn will be granted bail before the start of his trial, according to his chief lawyer, Motonari Otsuru. Given the complexity of the case, which also involves documents in both Japanese and English, it could take at least six months for the trial to begin, he has noted.
In Ghosn's first public appearance since his arrest, at a Tokyo court hearing on Jan. 8 to seek an explanation for his prolonged detention, the ousted chairman said, "I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations."
Last week, Ghosn was freshly charged with aggravated breach of trust over the transfer of derivatives losses from his private asset management company to Nissan's books, as well as for payments allegedly made from a subsidiary of the Japanese automaker to a Saudi acquaintance of the former chairman in connection with the handling of the losses.
Ghosn was initially indicted in December for underreporting his remuneration during the five years from fiscal 2010. In addition to breach of trust, he was charged last week with underreporting his remuneration in the three fiscal years through March last year.