Japanese prosecutors indicted Monday two Americans accused of helping former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, accused of financial embezzlement, to flee from Japan to Lebanon under incredible conditions in December 2019.
"The special investigative unit (of the Tokyo prosecutor's office, Editor's note) asked the Tokyo Magistrate's Court for a trial to take place for the two defendants" in connection with these charges, prosecutors said in a statement. communicated.
Arrested in 2020 in the United States
Michael Taylor, a former member of the American special forces converted to private security, and his son Peter were extradited from the United States in early March after having exhausted all possible remedies.
They were taken to Kosuge Detention Center in Tokyo, where Mr. Ghosn was held for 130 days between November 2018 and April 2019.
The Taylors were arrested in May 2020 by the American justice system under a Japanese arrest warrant.
They then remained detained in the United States because they were considered to present a "great risk of flight".
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Carlos Ghosn case: what interests justice
Carlos Ghosn's flight had taken place in an incredible manner and, on the morning of December 31, 2019, Japan had discovered with amazement the flight to Lebanon of its most famous accused.
A request for the arrest of Interpol
Two days earlier, while on bail pending trial for alleged financial embezzlement at Nissan, the Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian had quietly left his home in Tokyo to join Osaka (west of the country) in train with two accomplices.
He is suspected of having escaped controls at Kansai International Airport, near Osaka, by being hidden in a large box of audio equipment on board a private jet.
Baggage screening was not compulsory in Japan at the time for this type of device.
Carlos Ghosn arrived in Beirut on December 30 after a correspondence in Istanbul.
A document from US prosecutors refers to "one of the most brazen and best orchestrated leaks in recent history."
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The fallen auto tycoon, who is the subject of an Interpol arrest request, remains beyond the reach of Japanese justice because Lebanon does not extradite its nationals.
Lebanese justice, however, prohibited him from leaving the country.
