crime

Prosecutors have Ghosn email undermining claim of innocence: sources

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If the prosecutors have the evidence they should do their jobs and set a trial date instead of continuing to attempt to wretch a confession from Ghosn.

25 ( +27 / -2 )

One, I find it more than a bit strange that information is being leaked from the prosecutors office here. Typically evidence of this type is saved for the court room and not put out in the media. Something about this one is fishy.

Just who exactly at Nissan is going to be indicted on the charge besides Kelly and Ghosen? This is the same as saying the prosecutors KNOW that executives at Nissan knew what was going on, but they dont want to out any individual.

Nissan is being given a chance to find a fall guy!

21 ( +23 / -2 )

@ chip star - its a force of habit

@ Yubarau - I find it more than strange and hypocritical that the act of passing Brown envelopes is on trial here considering it's a way of life in Japan

15 ( +16 / -1 )

Extremely unprofessional for prosecutors to release information to the media and NOT in a court room. Just goes to show the prosecutors ONLY care about their reputation and not due process.

15 ( +16 / -1 )

A contradictory email is not proof.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

Japan's version of justice:

Coerce a confession so its all tied up nice and neat for court.

Trial by media before the actual court proceedings so that the actual trial is purely a show trial.

Sort of like how they do it in PRC.

Release Ghosn, take his passport, put him under house arrest, proceed to trial and make the case with whatever evidence there is.

Seems so logical and straightforward.

But this is not about justice.

This is a hit job, pure and simple.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

Sounds like it is time to go to trial

10 ( +12 / -2 )

The prosecutors have possession of an email that was allegedly sent by Ghosn to an official in charge of Middle East operations stating that the payment was unrelated to Nissan's business operations and instead was linked to an Al-Juffali project, according to the sources.

How did they get this email and why are they telling the media?

Al-Juffali already confirmed Ghosn's version of events as true, but prosecutors are ignoring it!

These prosecutors are a total farce and should be ashamed of themselves!

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Prosecutors allege …

If the allegations have true merit, make a formal charge and defend the verity of them instead of gossiping to journalists with the intent to slander anonymously. Demonstrates lack of character.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

I would hope they have (and need) a bit more more than an e-mail. LOL.

....It's probably full of basic grammatical errors too.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

In other countries when someone being arrested usually law enforcement already built a case against certain suspects especially in white collar crime case. In Japan what usually happens is law enforcement build most of their case only after they detain suspects for lengthy detention period. Focusing on confession not evidence.

So pressure not only to prove that suspect guilty but also need to show to media that suspect is look guilty. Not only that there was cases when finally prosecutor tampered evidence in that past due pressure that they need to win.

Former Osaka prosecutor, Tsunehiko Maeda has pleaded guilty to tampering with data on a floppy disk seized during the probe. Two of Maeda’s supervisors–Hiromichi Otsubo and Motoaki Saga–have also been arrested for covering up Maeda’s tampering, and the top two chiefs of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office–Takashi Kobayashi and Hideaki Tamai–have stepped down, taking blame for the tampering and cover-up.

Hiroshi Ishikawa, a former prosecutor, himself had been implicated in a case of false confessions before resigning. He says there’s enormous pressure on police and prosecutors to obtain a guilty verdict by any means.

“I was taught that foreigners and gang members have no human rights,” he once told me. “I was taught that winning is everything. And with the de facto power to detain someone who insists they’re innocent all the way up to their trial, we usually win. However, that doesn’t always mean that justice is served.”

6 ( +7 / -1 )

@cracaphat,

But the problem still remains that Renault is the majority owner of Nissan,despite being the smaller company. How can they change that dynamic right there?

Actually, they are not the majority shareholder. They are the largest shareholder, but not the majority shareholder. Their ownership is something like 43%, give or take. Can't remember the exact percentage.

However, it doesn't matter. Only Nissan's Directors can call an extraordinary shareholders meeting and they have rejected Renault's requests for one to address this situation. They have said that they will hold a shareholder's meeting as normally scheduled, which is June 2019.

So, basically, a big middle finger to Renault.

Their aim is clear. To use that time to circle the wagons and rid themselves of Ghosn and Renault.

THIS is what Japan Inc. looks like, in all of its splendor!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Extremely unprofessional for prosecutors to release information to the media and NOT in a court room. Just goes to show the prosecutors ONLY care about their reputation and not due process.

Yes their focus should be in a court room not media. Not only that, most media in Japan usually really happy to get one-sided news source from them and publish them without covering story from both side. In this case for example how many Japanese media really try to reach Khaled to get his side of story in full detail.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Isn’t pretrial publicity like this illegal?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Who are these "sources"? Why don't they give us their names, positions and connection to the investigation?

Clearly, they've got something to hide. That's why we shouldn't trust them.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

@gogogoToday  08:14 am JST Extremely unprofessional for prosecutors to release information to the media and NOT in a court room. Just goes to show the prosecutors ONLY care about their reputation and not due process.

Precisely - in my hit assault and run case I learned Japanese authorities failed every step of due process, prosecutor did not question a thing, later when I sued in district and Tokyo High courts all the judges did the same - nothing. This is why all Japanese in the know call their legal system 'chaban' a farce.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

This is nothing new in the corporate world, look at Japan, you need a partner who holds 51% of the company, example ask McDonalds, plus the same happens in other countries around the world. How do you think these politicians worldwide accumulate their huge wealth, mostly hidden and organized by the corporations themselves, in offshore havens for the wealthy. It's a corrupt world, but legally done, by loopholes in the tax systems worldwide.

Nothing new at all, most of Japanese companies that exist worldwide must involved this kind of practice at some point. Lucky for them they never get any scrutiny like Ghosn had.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

All big corporations are aware , that you can't do business in Saudi Arabia without the help of a Saudi national, usually one member of the huge royals of Saudi. Usually this is in the form of huge financial incentive, so if you want to do business in Saudi Arabia it's going to cost a lot of money. This is nothing new in the corporate world, look at Japan, you need a partner who holds 51% of the company, example ask McDonalds, plus the same happens in other countries around the world. How do you think these politicians worldwide accumulate their huge wealth, mostly hidden and organized by the corporations themselves, in offshore havens for the wealthy. It's a corrupt world, but legally done, by loopholes in the tax systems worldwide. The timing of this email leak , probably came from the back stabbers at Nissan hoping to sway the judge at Ghosn's bail hearing. Corporations hire legal experts to handle all these so called mundane transactions, so for Nissan and the groups executives must have been fully aware ,and sanctioned any financial transactions.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

How did they get this email and why are they telling the media?

Exactly. That's a nice, little (yet highly unethical and illegal) leak the prosecutors made there.

But, of course, we know to expect a lot more of this type of morally and legally corrupt activity...

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The prosecutors surely leaked this bit of information to tip back the scales.

Exactly. They are really doubling and tripling down on all of this insecurity. There is no happy ending in this for Japan. Whether or not Ghosn is found guilty, there will be much pie on Japan's collective face.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Two interesting paragraphs from our friend Wiki: "Leaks to the media said that Ghosn had planned to call a vote to fire Nissan CEO Saikawa and reinstate Kelly (who had semi-retired to the U.S. in 2015) to active service at the scheduled board meeting."

And more telling yet: "Ghosn and Kelly were reportedly arrested on information provided by an unidentified non-Japanese executive in Nissan's legal department, in the second deal ever struck under Japan's recently introduced plea bargaining system."

And now trial by leak to get the public on board?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Is this the Public Prosecutors Office or the Public Relations Office? Ghosn's court statement seemed to have altered the media narrative in favour of Ghosn slightly. The prosecutors surely leaked this bit of information to tip back the scales.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It's on the news it must be true? What a shimozol. The longer this goes on the more disrespable Japan's legal system looks, infantile. But mum....I'm telling the truth. I'm wearing a suit you should believe me! The prosecutors can't even defend their own actions in a sibilance of reasonable argument. What a twisted depraved system.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

One, I find it more than a bit strange that information is being leaked from the prosecutors office here..

Well the PPO works closely with the kisha club to release such bits of information, only few with probable favors have access. whether its factual or not is irrelevant.

At this point the prosecutors are on a very slippery wicket and will literally throw anything at Ghosn, ohh and in other news Renault finds no regularities in Ghosn pay audit, now when is Macron going to make a statement.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-nissan-ghosn-renault/renault-finds-no-irregularities-in-ghosn-pay-audit-idUKKBN1OC2A6

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I hope Mr. Khaled Al-Juffali cut down all business relations with Nissan and show what consequence they face if they discredit their business partners in the Middle East.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Minello

There is a lot of truth to what you say about Saudi Arabia. On the other hand.

look at Japan, you need a partner who holds 51% of the company

Where did you get this information? This is not the case.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

look at Japan, you need a partner who holds 51% of the company

As Tokyo-Engr says, this is most definitely true. I own much more than 50% of my companies.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

correction.. Renault finds no irregularities in Ghosn pay audit.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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