Carlos Ghosn's suspected escape accomplices arrested in US
The former Nissan and Renault boss fled to Lebanon at the start of this year with the help of a handful of accomplices wanted in Japan.
Ghosn remains a free man.
While Carlos Ghosn, former head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, remains an international fugitive, two men suspected of helping the former executive escape Japan were arrested in the US on Wednesday.
Reuters reports the two men, Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, were arrested Wednesday in Harvard, Massachusetts. Their arrest follows a warrant Japan issued for the two this past January. The Taylors were arrested after US law enforcement learned Peter Taylor booked a flight to Beirut, Lebanon from Boston.
The two men allegedly helped plan Ghosn's escape from Japan to Lebanon and helped execute the elaborate plot. You'll recall this plan is rumored to have included stuffing Ghosn into a musical instrument case inside his home. A third man, George-Antoine Zayek, was also allegedly part of the plan but has not been arrested. Aside from Japan's arrest warrants, Turkey indicted seven individuals supposedly part of the plan, including pilots.
Ghosn remains a free man in Lebanon, his home country, as it does not have an extradition agreement with Japan. The former head of the automaker alliance, and CEO of both Renault and Nissan , has consistently maintained his innocence after Japanese authorities accused him of numerous financial misdeeds and arrested him in 2018.
They include under-reporting his income and moving corporate Nissan funds for his personal use. In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission also investigated Ghosn over wrongdoings, which Ghosn has since settled. The executive previously said he fled the country to escape injustice.
Nissan told Roadshow on the news, "Nissan notes the extradition proceedings in the US. As previously announced, Nissan finds the former Chairman's flight from justice extremely regrettable. While not a party to these extradition proceedings, Nissan continues to reserve the right to take further legal measures as appropriate."
First published May 20.