Japanese court approves request to detain Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn for another 10 days

Mr Ghosn, who led Nissan Motor Company for two decades and helped save the Japanese automaker from near bankruptcy, was arrested in November on suspicion of falsifying financial reports.

He also faces a breach of trust allegation, for which his detention had been approved previously.

The Tokyo District Court said in a statement that it had approved prosecutors' request for a 10-day extension.

Mr Ghosn has been charged in the first set of allegations, about under-reporting his pay by about 5 billion yen (£34 million) in 2011-2015.

Those close to Mr Ghosn and his family say he is asserting his innocence as the alleged under-reported amount of money was never really decided or paid, and Nissan never suffered any monetary losses from the alleged breach of trust.

It is unclear when Mr Ghosn may be released on bail.

Tokyo prosecutors consider Mr Ghosn, a Brazilian-born Frenchman of Lebanese ancestry, a flight risk.

In Japan, formal charges can mean a suspect will get detained for months, sometimes until the trial starts, because of fears of tampered evidence.

Another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Mr Ghosn on the under-reporting of income and was freed on Christmas Day on 70 million yen (£500,000) bail after more than a month of detention.

Mr Kelly said in a statement released through his lawyers he had suffered while in detention because of his neck ailment and hoped to get medical treatment.

He also said he was innocent and hoped to regain his reputation.

"I expect that the trial will start soon. I have not been involved in alleged false entry. I believe my innocence will be revealed in the trial," he said.