Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn Flees from Japan to Lebanon
Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's ex-head, flees Japan to Lebanon
Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has travelled to Lebanon after fleeing Japan, where he faces a trial over allegations of financial misconduct. In a statement, Mr Ghosn said he had not fled justice but "escaped injustice and political persecution".
His lawyer said he was "dumbfounded" by the news and that he had not recently spoken with his client. It is unclear how the former chief executive officer managed to leave, as he was barred from travelling abroad.
Mr Ghosn, who has an estimated net worth of $120m (£91m), was one of the most powerful figures in the global car industry until his arrest in November 2018. He denies any wrongdoing. His case has attracted global attention and his months-long detention led to increased scrutiny of Japan's justice system.
The 65-year-old was born in Brazil to parents of Lebanese descent and was raised in Beirut, before travelling to France for further education. He holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese passports.
Interpol issues wanted notice to Lebanon for ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn
Interpol issued a so-called "Red Notice" Thursday for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, who jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon rather than face trial on financial misconduct charges in an escape that has baffled and embarrassed authorities.
A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide that they locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive. A Red Notice is not an arrest warrant and does not require Lebanon to arrest Ghosn.
Carlos Ghosn: How did the Nissan ex-boss flee from Japan?
Lebanon's MTV Lebanese reported that Mr Ghosn had fled his court-approved residence in Tokyo with the assistance of a paramilitary group who were disguised amongst a band of musicians.
It said the band had performed at his house and, shortly after they had finished, the 65-year-old hid in a large musical instrument case which was then hurried to a local airport. If this really happened, it may have been a tight squeeze even for Mr Ghosn, whose height is reported at 5ft 6in (167cm).
According to the MTV story, he then flew to Turkey, before arriving in Lebanon on a private jet. The broadcaster provided no proof for this theory which, unsurprisingly, spread rapidly across social media.
Mr Ghosn's wife, Carole, however, told Reuters news agency that reports of the musical escape were "fiction". She declined to provide details of the escape.
Donning a spy-movie disguise is not beyond Mr Ghosn. In March, in a bid to throw journalists off his scent, he left prison disguised as a construction worker. He was quickly identified and his lawyer soon apologised for the "amateur plan".
Carlos Ghosn Flirted With Hollywood, Then Delivered a Plot Twist
The fallen auto titan held early discussions with a movie producer before his audacious escape. The film's villain: Japanese justice.
Why did the former CEO of Nissan just get smuggled out of Japan?
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/01/ex-nissan-boss-flees-japan-by-plane-turkey-arrests-pilots/
The past few days have been filled with drama for one of the auto industry's most well-known executives. Carlos Ghosn used to run the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, a complicated partnership-not-a-merger between the three car makers that sells more metal than everyone other than Toyota and Volkswagen Group. But in November 2018, he was arrested by Japanese police on charges of financial misconduct and was replaced as the head of both Nissan and Mitsubishi.
[...]
Rather than continuing to submit to the Japanese criminal justice system—which has a near-perfect conviction rate, sharing few of the same protections for suspects that exist in the US or Europe—Ghosn apparently decided a change of scenery was in order. Which is where it all gets a bit weird. Late on the night of December 29, he managed to flee the country for Lebanon; he holds Lebanese (as well as French and Brazilian) citizenship and is close with the Lebanese government, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.
[...]
Initial reports that he had been hiding in a box meant to contain musical instruments for a band that played at his house are apparently wide of the mark. Instead, it's more likely that he was smuggled onto a private cargo jet in Osaka, bound for Istanbul, Turkey. The Turks aren't particularly happy about being involved and have arrested four pilots, two ground handlers, and the operations manager of the cargo company for their involvement in the escape.
Previously: Nissan Motor Chairman and Others Set to be Indicted
French Government Seeks Integration of Renault and Nissan Automakers
Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn's Bail Conditions Revealed
Related Stories
Prosecutors set to indict Ghosn and Nissan as CEO's role in focus: sources
Tokyo prosecutors are due to indict ousted Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn as well as the automaker itself on Monday, sources said, intensifying scrutiny of CEO Hiroto Saikawa's role in the financial misconduct scandal.
Ghosn was arrested on Nov. 19 on suspicion of conspiring to understate his compensation by about half of the actual 10 billion yen ($88 million) over five years from 2010. Nissan has said the misconduct was masterminded by the once-celebrated executive with the help of former Representative Director Greg Kelly.
Tokyo authorities plan to re-arrest the two executives, the sources said, declining to be named as they were not authorized to speak with media. Media reports have said the fresh crime was for three additional years of under-reported income. The two would then remain in custody without bail. Nissan itself is also likely to be indicted for making false statements in an annual report, they said. A separate source said there were concerns running through the company that Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa and others may also be indicted.
Earlier, Nissan sought to block Carlos Ghosn from accessing his company-owned apartment in Rio de Janeiro, fearing that he would remove or destroy evidence related to his misconduct.
Paris informs Tokyo it wants Renault and Nissan to integrate[*]
A French government delegation has informed Tokyo that it would seek an integration of Renault and Nissan, most likely under the umbrella of a single holding company, the Nikkei reported on Sunday.
The delegation, which included French government-designated Renault director Martin Vial, also said that it wanted to name Nissan's next chairman, according to the report. Nissan was not immediately available for comment.
Nissan ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn, arrested and detained in Tokyo since Nov. 19, has been indicted in Japan on charges of under-reporting his salary for eight years through March 2018, and temporarily transferring personal investment losses to Nissan during the global financial crisis. Ghosn has denied all charges.
[*] Noscript caused issues for me; same story can be found at U.S. News & World Report.
Previously: Nissan Motor Chairman and Others Set to be Indicted
Ghosn: Bail conditions revealed by lawyer
The lawyer for former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has revealed the terms his client had to meet to secure his initial release from custody on bail. Conditions the 65-year-old had faced included using a sole computer, in his lawyer's office, and one mobile phone. A 24-hour surveillance camera also had to be installed at the entrance of his court-approved permanent residence.
Mr Ghosn was re-arrested in Tokyo last week, pending trial over claims of financial misconduct. He has been detained over suspicions that he tried to enrich himself at the carmaker's expense. In a statement, Mr Ghosn - who denies any wrongdoing - said his re-arrest was "outrageous and arbitrary".
Previously: Nissan Motor Chairman and Others Set to be Indicted
French Government Seeks Integration of Renault and Nissan Automakers
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday January 04 2020, @12:54AM (4 children)
Some might suggest not being allowed to see your wife for months would drive you to .. extremes.
He left his financial adviser/assistant in Japan.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @01:08AM
No waifu, no Japanese schoolgirls, no unsupervised visits to used underwear vending machines, no reason to stay.
(Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:54AM
Constant partying?
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @07:20AM (1 child)
Yaay billionaire screws ppl and evades justice. So cool.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NateMich on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:23PM
The summary said he was worth $120m, not billions. Also, if you've followed this case at all, it looks suspiciously like the Japanese were detaining him indefinitely without any charges, based entirely on the accusers being Japanese, and him not.
I'm going with the "escaped injustice and political persecution" as looking fairly accurate.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @01:36AM
He ghosted them.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday January 04 2020, @01:44AM (15 children)
or he doesn't think he'll get a fair trial. I'm leaning towards the guilty as sin camp, with a side dish of an unfair trial.
What say you?
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Coward, Anonymous on Saturday January 04 2020, @01:55AM (5 children)
Japan has a 99 % conviction rate [wikipedia.org]. So they might as well skip the trial. Whether he's guilty or not is a separate issue.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:04AM (2 children)
That sounds like it includes plea deals. U.S. is around 94-97% plea deal rate.
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(Score: 5, Informative) by Coward, Anonymous on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:28AM (1 child)
This link [nippon.com] from a local source claims a 99.9 % conviction rate for cases that go to trial in Japan. That was my main point. They might as well skip the trial in Japan.
Now we're getting sidetracked, but for the US, the conviction the rate at trial is about 70 % [justice.gov] (see page 14).
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:34AM
Thanks. It's no surprise that a 65-year-old rich man would want to get the hell out of there.
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(Score: 5, Interesting) by Arik on Saturday January 04 2020, @05:03AM (1 child)
But once you're under prosecution, indeed, the chances look very bad. It's also a severe loss of face for a judge to be reversed on appeal, and if a Japanese prosecutor loses a case he can appeal for a new trial and it's a pretty good bet he'll do just that, and win it.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by boltronics on Tuesday January 07 2020, @03:58AM
Yes the conviction rate is very high. However you can also be sure that, given they can detain you for a year as a tourist (for example, people lose their jobs, etc. - they'll admit to being guilty, pay the penalty, just so they can move on with their lives), the prosecutors take this into consideration when deciding to go after you or not.
Don't put it past them. In Japan, if the police want to go through your bag and what not on a random check, they don't have the right - you can deny their request - but if you do so you'll likely be arrested as a suspicious person. I hear this kind of abuse of power happens a lot over there.
There are many other injustices too. I'm learning Japanese (mainly just for video games, probably approaching N4 at this point), but the BS legal system they have is one reason I've never went there.
It's GNU/Linux dammit!
(Score: 3, Funny) by looorg on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:16AM (1 child)
Wasn't there a closer equadorian embassy he could seek shelter in, it's all the rage with the innocent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @04:16AM
Nah that just results in extradition to gitmo
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:42AM (3 children)
From my position, it's currently impossible to tell whether he's really guilty, or just 65 years old and not wanting to screw with the shitstorm that's bound to drag on for the next many years around this.
Seriously, if I had $120M at least $10M of that would be safely stashed with the old family in the non-extradition country - and given the choice of fighting for truth and justice or just taking early retirement? Retirement looks really really good.
That still says nothing about his guilt or innocence, just that this move could be made by either kind of person. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle: some questionable actions taken for what seemed to be good reasons at the time.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 2) by legont on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:45AM (2 children)
His bail is 4.5 millions. There might be some folks willing to collect even if it involves third world country violation.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:32PM
Bail is not the same as a bounty. Once you skip out on the trial the bail is forfeited.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Sunday January 05 2020, @06:07AM
I thought the bail was well over $10M (US). It's not a bounty, it's bail: you pay it in order to be released before trial. The Japanese government has already said it's seized the bail money since he skipped the country, so it's now forfeit no matter what happens.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:42AM
I'm leaning toward the guilty side too. It's funny how a 100 millionaire is driven to cook the books to become a 120 millionaire (numbers are just guesses--but I believe the trend is correct).
It's that little extra boost you make in your retirement savings when you realize at age 60 that you are going to be a little short at age 65...
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:54AM (1 child)
Dumass me forgot the third option: He's both guilty as sin (which as the day goes on sounds more likely), AND he doesn't think he can get a fair trial in Japan.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Saturday January 04 2020, @04:18AM
I think you meant "He's both guilty as sin (which as the day goes on sounds more likely), AND he doesn't think he can pay for the right outcome at a trial in Japan."
Cynical? Me? About rich dudes who believe money puts them above the law?
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:42AM (2 children)
Carlos Ghosn may have been helped by ex-Green Beret in escape from Japan: report [nypost.com]
Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn escaped Japan aboard charter flights [dw.com]
Pressure is mounting on fugitive Carlos Ghosn as authorities make arrests and the probe into his mysterious escape heats up [businessinsider.com]
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(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday January 04 2020, @02:47AM (1 child)
While the goons at the border don't think too much about the grey areas, I'm sure that Lebanon doesn't outright ban every man, woman and child who ever set foot in Israel for any reason. Someone with Ghoson's resources and access to legal counsel can surely come up with acceptable justification for those visits and credible assurances that his presence in Lebanon is, rather than an aide to Israel, a boon to Lebanon in the ongoing conflict.
Boons are like that, throw a couple of million around and you can buy lots of boons.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Saturday January 04 2020, @04:11AM
He has reportedly met with the President already [cnbc.com].
But his future could depend on his friends remaining in power:
Carlos Ghosn might not be as safe in Lebanon as he thought [washingtonpost.com]
Allegations of "collaborating" with Israel could be swept under the rug, especially if he hasn't been there in a while:
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(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:11AM (5 children)
He's been charged (not convicted) with "financial crimes" which by definition are victimless. It 's not like he is a real criminal like a drug user, mugger or murderer. The Jap prosecutors should be content with the fact that this poirvguy will have to eat Lebanese sushi for the rest of his life.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:13AM
*poor guy. (Samsung's spellchecker is itself a crime.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @04:08AM
So financial crimes are victimless ? Glad to learn that. Then I won't feel guilty to steal all your personal information, have a shitton of credit cards made in your name, and shoot your credit score straight to hell. You can remind yourself that you're not a victim everytime you get turned down for a loan, or everytime your and your famility get harassed by all those repo-guys.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @04:20AM (2 children)
> ... real criminal like a drug user ...
Seems to me drug users also fall into the victimless crime bin (at least most of the time).
Drug pushers (and pharma reps) not so much.
A big part of Ghosn's problem in Japan is that he's not Japanese, and he controls two large car companies that he saved from financial collapse. The tender Japanese ego can't accept this reality, they might have been happier to see Nissan and Mitsu collapse than be under control of a gaijin / outsider.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @05:25AM (1 child)
Why would they hand him the companies then?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @10:25AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault%E2%80%93Nissan%E2%80%93Mitsubishi_Alliance#History [wikipedia.org]
It's complicated, but on the surface it looks like Renault had cash when Nissan didn't, so Renault bought enough Nissan stock to get control, and put in Ghosn as CEO.
Another outcome could have been the Japanese gov't bailing out Nissan. Here's one discussion of that from about a year ago, https://www.wsj.com/articles/nissan-enlisted-japanese-government-to-fend-off-renault-merger-11550242489 [wsj.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:31AM (3 children)
Ghosn is obviously better prepared than Mr. Julian Assange. If you have to hole up somewhere, make it a nice, big, comfortable hole. That embassy in London wasn't nearly big enough, nor, I expect, comfortable enough.
Lebanon? My experiences there don't make it a favorite country, but even so, all of Lebanon compared to an embassy in London? Yeah, good move, Ghosn! When the SHTF again in Lebanon, you can probably find a nice safe rock to hide under. If not, maybe you can slip into Israel for the duration.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 04 2020, @04:06AM
Carlos Ghosn might not be as safe in Lebanon as he thought [washingtonpost.com]
They put him on a stamp [cnn.com] at one point.
If he plays his cards wrong, he's a dead man. If he plays them right... President of Lebanon?
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @12:17PM (1 child)
Israel has no reason to take him but he might have enough cash on hand to retire to France.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Sunday January 05 2020, @06:13AM
With the kind of money he has, it should be pretty easy to get between Lebanon and France. Both of them border major bodies of water, so he can just take a boat through international waters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @03:42PM (1 child)
In this age of the security state, to escape out of a major province of the Empire is a remarkable achievement.
He's in his 60s, he knew that the Japanese were going to drag out the trial for the rest of his useful career age. He's not going to get a job requiring travel now, but he wouldn't have got one anyway while he had to stand trial. I'd be interested to know what hand the French had in having an extra passport available for him. Only losers are the Turkish jet charter people, but they're busy finding a fall guy.
It's a lesson for any Western business executive about taking over a Japanese institution. They'll gladly take your bail out, but they won't let you de-Japanify it.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 04 2020, @11:38PM
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nissan-ghosn-renault/nissans-ghosn-offers-to-wear-electronic-ankle-tag-for-bail-idUSKCN1PF04K [reuters.com]
https://nypost.com/2020/01/04/carlos-ghosn-security-stopped-monitoring-ex-nissan-exec-after-lawyers-threat/ [nypost.com]
A couple of details here. He offered to wear an ankle monitor last January in order to get bail. I'm not sure if he actually had one on before or during his escape.
He was being monitored by private security hired by Nissan, his lawyers threatened to sue over it, and they backed off. But there were police-operated cameras in the home that recorded him walking right out undisguised.
If anything, it shows that the Japanese security state is too weak, too reliant on humans (security and even the alleged criminals) behaving correctly, and too easily fooled.
The security states of the near future will be highly reliant on AI and widespread surveillance. China seems to be in the lead with a plan to put cameras almost everywhere and track everyone in real time using facial recognition. Japan is obviously behind on this. Otherwise a few button clicks could have put the system on high alert for unusual activity related to Ghosn.
The security state is going to get much more draconian as related technologies continue to get better and cheaper.
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