Before and after former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn fled Japan for Lebanon while out on bail, nine monetary transfers equivalent to a total of 1,362,500 dollars (about 146 million yen) were made by Ghosn and his son to Peter Taylor and a company he operated.
Peter Taylor, 28, and his father, Michael Taylor, 60, were arrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad on Tuesday on suspicion of illegally harboring Ghosn, 66, who had been indicted on suspicion of violating the companies law and other charges.
The special investigation squad believes that Ghosn prepared the large sum and carefully planned his escape with the two U.S. citizens and others.
The two suspects were handed over by U.S. authorities to the squad, which arrested them before the plane transporting them to Japan took off from the United States. The aircraft arrived at Narita Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
In January 2020, Japan issued arrest warrants for Michael Taylor, a former Green Beret, Peter Taylor and George-Antoine Zayek, a 61-year-old U.S. citizen, on suspicion of illegally harboring Ghosn and other charges. According to the warrant, the elder Taylor and Zayek took Ghosn from Tokyo to Osaka, hid him in a large box, loaded it on to a private jet and left Japan from Kansai Airport on Dec. 29, 2019.
The prosecutors have not said whether the Taylors have admitted to the charges.
According to documents submitted to a U.S. federal court and other materials, Peter Taylor met Ghosn six times when he visited Japan in July and August 2019. In October the same year, 862,500 dollars was transferred in two installments to the younger Taylor's company from a bank account Ghosn holds in France.
After Ghosn was revealed to have entered Lebanon, from January to May 2020, his son, Anthony Ghosn, transferred to Peter Taylor the equivalent of 500,000 dollars in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin over seven installments.
The special investigation squad believes that the money transferred before Ghosn's escape was a "retainer" and that transferred after the escape was a "contingency fee."
A man at the company operating the private jet who has been indicted in Turkey on suspicion of helping Ghosn's escape, among other charges, received money of unknown origin worth about 33 million yen. Prosecutors believe there is a possibility that the funds sent by Ghosn may have been used.
When the arrest warrants were issued for the three Americans, another was also issued for Ghosn on suspicion of illegally leaving Japan in violation of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law.
In May, U.S. authorities arrested the Taylors based on the Japan-U.S. extradition treaty. After the State Department approved their extradition to Japan, the Taylors' lawyers requested a U.S. district court to block the extradition in January. The request was rejected by the district court. While the Taylors appealed, their application for a stay was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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