The first hearing in the financial misconduct trial of Nissan Motor Co. and former director Greg Kelly might be postponed to May or later, a source close to the matter said Friday.
The Tokyo District Court, which planned to start the trial on April 21, says it needs more time to work out the details, such as how many witnesses to question, the source said after Friday's pretrial proceedings.
The proceedings, which Kelly attended, allow the court, prosecutors and lawyers to narrow down the points of dispute. The next meeting will be held on April 21, the source said.
The court decided in January to separate the trial of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn from that of Nissan and Kelly after Ghosn jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in late December.
The government has been requesting Ghosn's extradition through Interpol, but Lebanon has indicated it is unlikely to comply. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with Lebanon.
Kelly, a former representative director who was arrested with Ghosn by Tokyo prosecutors in November 2018, is accused of conspiring in the alleged underreporting of Ghosn's remuneration by around ¥9 billion ($85.7 million) over a period of eight years through March 2018.
The automaker itself faces the same accusation.