The trial for former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn over his alleged underreporting of remuneration could start this fall, his lawyers said Wednesday.
Ghosn, 65, who was released on bail on March 6 after 108 days in detention since his initial arrest in November, is facing two charges — one of violating the financial instruments law by underreporting remuneration and another over aggravated breach of trust in relation to the transfer of private investment losses to Nissan.
In the case over the alleged violation of the financial instruments law, Ghosn, his close aide Greg Kelly and Nissan have all been indicted for the underreporting of Ghosn's remuneration by a total of around ¥9.1 billion ($82 million) in Nissan's securities reports over the eight years through March 2018.
The potential start of the trial was suggested by the Tokyo District Court during talks involving prosecutors and defense lawyers the same day.
The court also designated May 23 as the start of the pretrial process for narrowing down points of dispute in the case of alleged aggravated breach of trust, which only involves Ghosn, according to the lawyers.
Ghosn allegedly transferred personal losses of ¥1.85 billion from derivatives contracts to Nissan during the 2008 global financial crisis and had the automaker pay $14.7 million to a Saudi businessman who extended credit to him.
Ghosn, who was credited with saving Nissan when it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s, was ousted from the chairman's post following his arrest on Nov. 19 — but he remains a Nissan director.
Kelly, 62, arrested along with Ghosn in November and released on bail the following month, was dismissed from the post of representative director but also remains a Nissan director.
The two have denied the allegations.