Japanese prosecutors indicted two American men Monday on charges of aiding former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn to flee the country and escape trial in 2019.
Michael Taylor, 60, a former Green Beret, and his son Peter, 28, helped Ghosn, 67, jump bail, despite knowing that the former auto titan was prohibited from traveling overseas based on his bail conditions, according to the indictment by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.
The two allegedly helped Ghosn, who is charged with financial crimes, flee his home in Tokyo on Dec. 29 and make their way to Kansai International Airport, having first stopped in a hotel in Tokyo and then another in the western prefecture of Osaka.
At the airport they hid Ghosn in a box allowing him to pass through airport security, and then flew with him in a private jet to Turkey.
Ghosn then flew to his childhood home of Lebanon, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.
The Taylors were arrested after arriving in Japan early this month under an extradition treaty with the United States.
The two had fought extradition through U.S. courts and appealed to the State Department. But their appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in February, and the State Department approved turning them over to Japan in October.
Ghosn, who was arrested in 2018, is charged with underreporting his remuneration by millions of yen over a number of years and with misuse of Nissan funds. He has denied all charges, saying he is the victim of a coup staged by Nissan executives.
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U.S. suspects in Carlos Ghosn's escape to be turned over to Japan: sources
