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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
(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?