Carlos Ghosn, former chairman of Nissan Motor Co. directly called Michael Taylor, a former member of the U.S. Green Beret, to help him flee Japan, prosecutors said Monday during the first hearing of the trial in which Taylor pleaded guilty to aiding the former business tycoon's escape while out on bail.
The hearing took place in the Tokyo District Court during which both Taylor, 60, and his son Peter Taylor, 28, admitted to the charges in the indictment. Accompanied by a number of guards, the Taylors appeared in the courtroom wearing black suits.
The indictment states that Ghosn, 67, who was indicted over multiple charges including the violation of the Companies Law, took the leading role in his own escape by breaking the conditions of his bail.
-- Quick response
Michael Taylor is a well-known figure in the security industry globally, establishing a private military security company after being discharged from the U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, in 1983.
According to the indictment, the Taylors conspired with U.S. citizen George-Antoine Zayek, 61, to place a large box in which Ghosn was hiding on a private jet to leave Kansai Airport on Dec. 29, 2019. Ghosn was found to have entered Lebanon two days later.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Zayek for allegedly concealing a criminal, but he remains at large.
The Taylors listened to a simultaneous interpretation of the presiding judge through earphones. When asked if there were any factual errors in the indictment, they immediately answered, "No." The defense attorneys also recognized the facts in the indictment and expressed their desire for extenuation.
-- Details revealed
This was the first trial in Japan for the fugitive case that shocked the world. Prosecutors argued in their opening statement that Ghosn had planned to escape about six months before he fled.
According to the opening statement, Michael Taylor met Ghosn's wife, Carole Ghosn, 54, through an introduction from an acquaintance in Lebanon around June 2019. She asked him to help Ghosn flee Japan. She told him that Ghosn will go to prison if nothing is done.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Carole Ghosn for perjury.
Michael Taylor agreed to help after Carlos Ghosn also asked him to help with the escape.
Taylor came up with a plan to use a private jet. He asked Ghosn to pay for the expense around August 2019. He then asked Zayek, a U.S. Army acquaintance, to cooperate around September the same year.
Peter Taylor had been told about the scheme by his father and met Ghosn several times from July of that same year at the office of Ghosn's then defense attorney, among other places. In an office meeting, Ghosn told Peter Taylor that he wanted to wire money for his escape.
In October of the same year, Ghosn transferred a total of 862,500 dollars (about 93 million yen) to an account in the name of a company run by Peter Taylor, who then wired 400,000 dollars to the account of the company making arrangements for the private jet. The rest was reportedly used for other expenses and for his company. Between February and May last year, a total of about 500,000 dollars worth of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin was also transferred from an account in the name of Ghosn's son to an account in Peter Taylor's name.
Under the terms of his bail, Ghosn was prohibited from contacting his wife and was also restricted from using a mobile phone. However, Ghosn violated these conditions, communicating with Michael Taylor on a different phone than the one he was allowed to use. Hiding in a large box is said to have been Ghosn's idea.
-- 2-hour speech
The Taylors' confession statements made during the investigation were also read out in the hearing.
According to the statements, when Michael Taylor went to check on the box in which Ghosn was hiding after takeoff, Ghosn came out of the box, sitting on top of it and making a speech for about two hours about how he had been tortured in Japan and that he had been set up by Nissan. Michael Taylor was quoted as saying that Ghosn suddenly became arrogant and never thanked him.
Michael Taylor was also quoted as saying that Carole Ghosn also told him her husband was being tortured in Japan. He said in the statement that he had not been tortured in Japan at all. According to his statement, he said he realized after he was detained that the Japanese judiciary is fair and professional.
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