US authorities on Wednesday arrested a former Special Forces soldier and another man wanted by Japan on charges that they helped former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn escape to Lebanon to avoid prosecution.
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said that former US Green Beret Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, helped Ghosn flee to Lebanon last year to avoid facing trial in Japan over alleged financial wrongdoing.
Japan issued arrest warrants in January for both men along with a third suspect, George-Antoine Zayek, in connection with facilitating the daring Dec. 29, 2019, escape. The Taylors are scheduled to appear by video conference before a federal judge later on Wednesday.
>> 'I was scared to stay in Japan,' Carlos Ghosn tells FRANCE 24 after daring escape
Ghosn fled to Lebanon, his childhood home, while awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting his earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies.
“I left Japan because I arrived at the conclusion that I couldn’t have a fair trial there,” Ghosn told FRANCE 24 in an interview given shortly after his escape, criticising what he described as Japan’s “hostage” justice system.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
