TOKYO: The defense team for former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who fled Japan in late December while out on bail, is considering resigning, lawyer Junichiro Hironaka said Saturday.

"We have no choice but to resign eventually," Hironaka told reporters.

He suggested that the team will try to make contact with Ghosn, 65, next week and decide when to dissolve itself in line with his intention.

Ghosn escaped to Lebanon to avoid a trial in Japan over his alleged financial misconduct.

At a meeting on Saturday afternoon, the defense team decided to try to contact Ghosn through a Lebanese lawyer who has long known the disgraced automotive magnate. The team can get in touch with the Lebanese lawyer, according to Hironaka.

"We'd like to have contact (with Ghosn) early next week," Hironaka said.

The defense team plans to meet the press after the news conference Ghosn is expected to hold on Wednesday.

Hironaka said the defense team has been requested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office to submit three passports of Ghosn, records on visitors to him while on bail and the personal computer he was allowed to use.

The team plans to provide the prosecutors with the visitor records and is considering what to do with the passports and the computer, according to Hironaka.

At Saturday's meeting, the defense team concluded that Ghosn jumped bail mainly because he had been prevented from meeting his wife, Carole, as part of his bail conditions.

Jiji Press