A JAPANESE court granted bail to ousted Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. chairman Carlos Ghosn yesterday more than three months after his arrest for alleged financial crimes, on condition he submit to video surveillance and communications monitoring.

The architect of the Renault-Nissan tie-up, and until his arrest in November one of the global auto industry’s most feted executives, could walk free as early as yesterday afternoon after his bail was set at 1 billion yen (US$8.9 million).

The decision is a win for Ghosn’s recently revamped legal team as they await his trial on charges of aggravated breach of trust and under-reporting his compensation at Nissan for nearly a decade to the tune of US$82 million. If convicted on all the charges he faces up to 10 years in jail.

He will be released from the Tokyo Detention Center, where he has been in custody for 107 days, after he comes up with the funds to make his bail payment.

The ex-chairman of Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and France’s Renault SA has denied wrongdoing.

Nissan declined to comment on the decision.

Lead lawyer Junichiro Hironaka told reporters Monday that Ghosn was willing to submit to restrictions including video surveillance and communications monitoring as part of his bail application. In rejecting his previous bail applications, the judges had expressed concern he could tamper with evidence.

(SD-Agencies)