Monday 14 June 2021
Renault manager fled in Lebanon
Ex-elite soldier helped Ghosn escape
It’s a cinematic escape: To avoid a trial in Japan, the former Renault manager Ghosn escapes in his private jet, hidden in a suitcase. An ex-soldier from the USA and his son help him – for a million payment.
Two accomplices of Carlos Ghosn have admitted in court their complicity in the car manager’s spectacular escape from Japan. The two US citizens, father and son, said before the Tokyo District Court that they did not deny the allegations against which they were charged. They spoke after the charges were read to them. The 60-year-old Michael T. and his 28-year-old son Peter are said to have enabled Ghosn to escape and also hatched the escape plan. They face up to three years imprisonment if convicted of helping to escape.
Michael T. is a former elite soldier in the US Army who works in the field of private security services. According to the US prosecutor, he is said to have traveled to Japan several times and met Ghosn there at least seven times. According to Japanese media, his son Peter is said to have received 144 million yen (just under 1.1 million euros) from the Ghosn family for the help. Ghosn flew in a large suitcase on board a private jet from Osaka to Istanbul at the end of 2019 and then on to Beirut. The manager also has Lebanese citizenship. He is still in Lebanon and is not allowed to leave the country. However, Lebanon does not expel its citizens, which is why the Japanese judiciary has no access to it.
The two alleged escape helpers from the USA, wanted by Japan by arrest warrant, were arrested in the USA in May 2020 and extradited to Japan in early March. A third alleged escape helper from Lebanon is still on the run. Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018. The judiciary accuses him, among other things, of having transferred private losses to the car manufacturer Nissan, which is allied with the French car maker Renault, and of having misappropriated company capital. There are also investigations against Ghosn in France. Among other things, it concerns the possibly illegal financing of two lavish parties at Versailles Palace.
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