The U.S. Army veteran arrested on suspicion of aiding the escape of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn is suspected of lying to an official at Kansai Airport, claiming that he and a companion were violinists scheduled to perform in Osaka, according to court documents.
Former Green Beret Michael Taylor, 60, was arrested on Tuesday by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. He is also said to have asked the airport official about what kind of security check would be done at departure and of trying to hand over a large bundle of 10,000 yen notes as a "tip" when he was in Japan in December 2019.
This sequence of events is described in a statement by the Kansai Airport official. The statement was included in
a document, prepared by the investigation squad and the Metropolitan Police Department, that was submitted as evidence in a U.S. trial over the extradition of Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, 28.
Peter Taylor was also arrested on suspicion of hiding Ghosn.
The investigation squad believes that the suspects conducted thorough preparations to help Ghosn escape, such as checking scheduled events around the airport.
According to the statement by the airport official, Michael Taylor arrived from Dubai on a private jet at 10 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2019, with George Zayek, another American suspected of helping Ghosn. They were taken to the airport's Tamayura private jet facility.
The two men were scheduled to leave Japan on the evening of the same day, prompting the official to remark that they would have "an extremely short stay." In response, Taylor said they planned to perform in Osaka but had to go home as soon as possible because of a scheduled meeting the next day.
Another airport staffer was told that they were going to perform in a concert by a famous Japanese violinist.
Such a concert was actually held in Osaka City on the afternoon of Dec. 29. However, an official in charge of the concert told The Yomiuri Shimbun, "There were no Americans among the performers, and no such appearance was even planned."
Taylor visited Tamayura again around 9 p.m. the same day, this time by himself. He asked the official if there would be a security check on departure. Taylor also wanted to talk to the captain of the private jet and had the official make a phone call. He reportedly asked the captain to arrange for everything to go smoothly.
Taylor then tried to hand 10,000 yen notes bound up with a hairband to the official, saying, "It's a tip for you." Judging from the thickness of the bundle, the amount is believed to have been about 1 million yen.
The official reportedly said she could not take the tip. Taylor kept trying to give it to her, according to the statement, but she refused.
Taylor and Zayek left Japan from Kansai Airport after 11 p.m. on a private jet. At that time, private jet users' baggage was not subject to mandatory X-ray or other security checks, and the box in which Ghosn was hiding was not examined.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
