A security camera installed at a Tokyo house of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, under indictment for alleged aggravated breach of trust, recorded him leaving alone around noon on Dec. 29, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Ghosn, 65, had been staying in the house while out on bail before he fled abroad, leaving Japan without permission.
He was not seen returning to his house in the security camera footage, the sources said.
The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office suspects that Ghosn could have left the house to met somewhere else with accomplices who helped him flee overseas. Prosecutors are investigating the case on suspicion of violation of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law.
The special investigation squad intends to analyze images from security cameras around Ghosn's house with the cooperation of the Metropolitan Police Department to determine the route he used to leave Japan, according to the sources.
At night on the same day, it was confirmed that a private jet left Kansai Airport at 11:10 p.m., and arrived in Turkey about 12 hours later. It is believed that Ghosn may have been aboard the private jet, and then changed to another private jet in Turkey, entering Lebanon on Dec. 30.
Allowed to hold passport
When Ghosn entered Lebanon, it appears highly likely that he presented a passport in his name that the Tokyo District Court had allowed him to carry.
When the court granted Ghosn bail in March and April 2019, it imposed conditions including a ban on overseas travel and the handing over of his French, Lebanese and Brazilian passports to his defense team.
However, his defense team argued that he faced a need to carry his passport because unless he possessed a passport at all times while staying in Japan, he would be in violation of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law. Therefore, the defense team requested that the court partially change his bail conditions in May 2019.
Prosecutors opposed the request, saying that the court had ordered Ghosn to hand over his passports to his lawyers, that it was unlikely for him to be arrested for not carrying a passport, and that if he possessed a passport the possibility of him fleeing abroad would increase. However, the court allowed Ghosn to carry one of the two French passports.
The passport was kept in a hard, clear case, and the key was managed by the defense team, the sources said.
It is said that in France, those who frequently go abroad and apply for many visas are allowed to hold two passports as exceptional cases.
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