Alleged Ghosn Accomplices Admit Escape Role in Tokyo

World

June 14th, 6:28am

Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2020 file photo, former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn holds a press conference at the Maronite Christian Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, north of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, file)

An American father-son duo accused of helping former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn jump bail and flee Japan admitted their role in the audacious escape in a Tokyo court Monday. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son Peter were appearing in a Japanese court for the first time after the United States extradited them in March. They are being held at the same jail in Tokyo where Ghosn was detained, and face up to three years in prison. Michael Taylor, 60, and Peter, 28, said they did not dispute the details of the indictment against them laid out by prosecutors. They are accused in the Houdini-like operation where Ghosn hid in a box for music equipment that was loaded onto a private jet that flew him to Lebanon, via Turkey in December 2019. Unlike the US, Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan. Ghosn has French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship. The Taylors were arrested in Massachusetts in May last year and extradited in March on charges of helping a criminal. The authorities say Ghosn hired the Taylors for at least $1.3 million. Ghosn led Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. for two decades before his arrest in November 2018. He was charged with falsifying securities reports in under-reporting his compensation and of breach of trust in using Nissan money for personal gain. Ghosn says he is innocent.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3026271/alleged-ghosn-accomplices-admit-escape-role-tokyo