Father, son accused of helping Ghosn escape extradited to Japan from US
Tokyo, Mar 2 (efe-epa).- An American citizen and his son were flown to Tokyo Tuesday after the United States allowed their extradition for standing trial on charges of helping disgraced former Nissan president Carlos Ghosn’s dramatic escape from Japan to Lebanon.
Japanese authorities took Michael Taylor, 60, an ex-Green Beret, and his son Peter, 28, into their custody soon after they landed at Tokyo Narita Airport on a flight from Boston, US, Japan’s state broadcaster NHK reported.
US authorities arrested the suspected collaborators in Ghosn’s in May 2020 from Massachusetts.
Their several judicial appeals to stop their extradition to Japan failed to convince US authorities and judges.
Japanese authorities alleged that they facilitated Ghosn’s flight from his home in Tokyo on Dec 29 last year while he was on bail.
Ghosn arrived in Beirut on a private plane after a stopover in Turkey.
The Japanese prosecution said the two US citizens and a third person, George Zayek, of Lebanese origin, “helped in the escape” of the former Nissan director, knowing that he was barred from leaving Japan.
They allegedly facilitated Ghosn’s escape with the former Nissan chief hidden in a box on a private jet.
The suspects face the charges of violating immigration laws and hiding an accused.
Ghosn, who was also president of Renault and the Japanese firm Mitsubishi, was arrested in Tokyo on Nov.19, 2018, on charges of financial irregularities during his tenure as head of Nissan.
He fled Japan from Kansai International Airport in Osaka prefecture months before his trial began.
He later surfaced in Beirut where he told reporters that he was innocent and was being framed in Tokyo because of a Nissan infighting.
Ghosn has a triple nationality from French, Brazilian, and Lebanese and did not go through immigration checks in Japan.
According to sources close to him, he hid inside a box to get to the plane that he took off from Osaka.
He entered Lebanon with a French passport and a Lebanese identity document, according to the Lebanese authorities.
Ghosn was summoned to testify in Lebanon following an Interpol red circular on Japan’s request.
Japan has also requested Ghosn’s extradition, even as that seems unlikely because Tokyo and Beirut have no bilateral agreement. EFE-EPA
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