News Headlines - 10 January 2020
Lebanon banned former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn from travel Thursday and asked Japan to hand over his file on financial misconduct charges as Tokyo urged the fugitive to return... On Thursday morning, a day after Ghosn made an impassioned defense in front world media of his decision to jump bail and flee Japan, he gave testimony to Lebanese prosecutors over Interpol’s Red Notice urging his arrest.
▽Lawyer nixes prosecutors' seizure of PC used by Ghosn - The Mainichi
Tokyo prosecutors' attempts to seize a computer used by former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn at his lawyer's Tokyo office, apparently in connection with his escape from Japan, were blocked Wednesday, Ghosn's defense team said.
Investigators of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office visited the office of Junichiro Hironaka, a member of Ghosn's defense team, following his refusal to voluntarily submit the personal computer that Ghosn used there. But the lawyer did not allow them to enter the office.
▽JDI May Have Overstated Inventory in Fiscal 2015-2016: Asahi
Japan Display is suspected of inappropriately overstating a cumulative total of 10b yen in inventory, which may have inflated the company’s operating results and led to the postponement of loss, Asahi reports, citing unidentified people.
Overstatement started shortly after former CEO Mitsuru Homma took up his role in June 2015 and continued through fiscal 2016, before Japan Display got financial assistance
▽Ex-Sumitomo Heavy employee suspected in ￥640 million embezzlement
A former secretary at Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. is suspected of embezzling more than 600 million yen from the company over, police said, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 9).
Thus far, police have accused Junko Tamura, 60, who was in charge of accounting for the Sumitomo Heavy Industries Trade Union Federation, of using a company computer to transfer 50 million yen from a bank account for union pensions to an account of her own.
All told, Tamura is believed to have used similar means to misappropriate a total of 640 million yen. Tamura, who was arrested on Tuesday, admits to the allegations, police said.
▽China identifies new strain of coronavirus as source of pneumonia outbreak - The Washington Post
Chinese researchers investigating the cause of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak have discovered a new strain of coronavirus, a species of viruses that can cause deadly illnesses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), according to Chinese state media and the World Health Organization.
A group of Chinese experts this week isolated and obtained the genome sequence of the new virus, which is believed to be responsible for sickening dozens of people who visited a wild-animal market last month in Wuhan, in central China, state media reported Thursday.
