A onetime titan of the automotive industry becomes a fugitive from the law, fleeing across the globe to escape what he called “injustice and political prosecution.”
There are more questions than answers about Carlos Ghosn’s jarring announcement on Monday that he had evaded the authorities in Japan and arrived in Lebanon. But the news is the latest episode in a twisting tale.
What happened?
Mr. Ghosn, the ousted automotive executive facing financial charges in Japan, announced that he had fled Tokyo and arrived in Beirut. He may be able to evade prosecution in Lebanon, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan, but his travel outside the country would be restricted.
Mr. Ghosn is a citizen of Lebanon, grew up there, and has business interests in the area.
Who is Carlos Ghosn?
Mr. Ghosn, 65, was once the epitome of the world-straddling corporate executive. He ran a global car empire as the architect and chief of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi automaking alliance. By slashing costs and creating efficiencies, Renault of France and Nissan of Japan prospered. He became a celebrity in Japan, even inspiring a manga comic book.
Then, in November 2018, he was taken into custody in Tokyo and accused of understating his income to the financial authorities. He had been in Japan since then, either held in a cell or out on bail, awaiting trial in 2020.
He has denied wrongdoing and says he was the victim of an internal coup by executives at Nissan who feared he would bind the Japanese company too closely with Renault.
Born in Brazil of Lebanese parents and raised in Lebanon, Mr. Ghosn attended some of France’s best schools, the Lycée Saint-Louis and the École Polytechnique. His started his career at the tire maker Michelin, worked on his English, and became head of the company’s North American operations. He lived in Greenville, S.C., before joining Renault as an executive in 1996.
He had homes in Paris, Amsterdam, Beirut and Rio de Janeiro, invested in art and wineries, and flew around the world on a corporate jet. Critics said his salaries were exorbitant, especially after the financial crisis of 2008, and decried his taste for the good life. In 2016, he held a lavish Marie Antoinette-themed party at Versailles to celebrate his second marriage and his new wife’s 50th birthday — an event that may have been financed with Renault corporate money, the company said in February.
What was he charged with?
Japanese prosecutors have accused him of financial wrongdoing, including underreporting his compensation and temporarily shifting his personal financial losses onto Nissan’s books. Prosecutors have also charged Nissan and a board member, Greg Kelly, who is a United States citizen. Mr. Kelly was released from jail a year ago because he was having health problems, and is still in Tokyo, his lawyer said. Mr. Kelly also denies wrongdoing.
Why did he go to Lebanon?
As his career took off elsewhere, Mr. Ghosn maintained close ties to the country. He has stayed in a salmon-colored mansion on a tree-lined street that was purchased for $8.75 million. An internal Nissan investigation found that a company investment vehicle purchased the house; Mr. Ghosn’s family has said the company had long been aware of the purchase.
Lebanon also offers legal protections, since Mr. Ghosn would be legally protected from extradition to Japan.
How did he get out of Japan?
Unclear. His three passports — from France, Lebanon and Brazil — were seized upon his arrest in Japan, and as a condition of his bail were held by his lawyers. The lawyers said on Tuesday they still had his passports.
There are unconfirmed reports that he flew by private jet from Japan to Lebanon, a manner he is accustomed to. When he was first taken into custody by the Tokyo authorities in 2018, he was at his private jet in Tokyo.
There are also reports that he escaped in a box, or used a false identity or passport. Mr. Ghosn has some experience trying to evade those trying to find him. In March, when he left a Tokyo detention center after making bail, he dressed as a construction worker to throw off the awaiting media frenzy.
What are Japanese authorities saying?
Nothing. Government offices and most businesses in Japan were closed ahead of New Year’s Day, the most important holiday on the Japanese calendar.
Mr. Ghosn’s lawyers in Japan, who were preparing for trial in the coming year, said they were surprised by the news. “I want to ask him, ‘How could he do this to us?’” said his lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka.
Mr. Ghosn had posted bail of $9 million, money that would appear to be at risk.
What are Ghosn’s complaints against the Japanese legal system?
Mr. Ghosn has accused the courts and prosecutors in Japan of treating him unfairly. After he was taken into custody, he was held for more than 100 days in a small cell before bail was granted. He was later rearrested — the authorities burst into his house, according to Carole Ghosn, his wife — to face further charges, and would later make bail again.
The former executive has criticized what he called unnecessarily harsh tactics, like forbidding communication between him and his wife (prosecutors say the two could conspire to destroy evidence). And he says the courts have unfairly barred his lawyers from looking at Nissan documents that could help him prove his case.
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Carlos Ghosn’s Daring Escape to Lebanon: What We Know - The New York Times
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