Arab News Japan

Japanese prosecutors gathered evidence that Nissan’s former Chairman Carlos Ghosn spent his final hours in Tokyo with his 27-year-old daughter Maya Ghosn.

The pair had lunch together the day he escaped from Japan, before she had delivered his luggage to a hotel where Peter Taylor, former Green Beret Michael Taylor’s son, was staying, according to the prosecutors.

During his press conference in January, Ghosn emphasized that he had not received any help from his children or his wife.

However, according to Ghosn’s chauffeur’s statement given to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, the father and daughter went to Ghosn’s house the day he fled Japan and loaded a Toyota van with at least five suitcases.

The driver explained that Ghosn’s daughter then asked to be driven to the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, where Peter Taylor had been staying, according to Japanese authorities. She told him she wanted to drop the bags off to an “acquaintance,” as she wanted to fly out to the US and her luggage exceeded the weight limit.

Security-camera images included in the prosecutors’ documents showed Maya Ghosn and Peter Taylor shaking hands and standing together in the hotel’s parking lot. Taylor received two suitcases that were transported with Ghosn’s chauffeur, according to the documents. Maya Ghosn then was driven to Haneda airport to catch her flight to the US.

Throughout this interaction, Nissan’s ex-CEO walked to the Grand Hyatt Tokyo and met with the Taylors and former Lebanese soldier George Zayek, according to the prosecutors.

They then went to Osaka on a train, bringing with them two of the suitcases from Ghosn’s house. Peter Taylor went to Narita Airport and flew to China with two of the other suitcases, the documents stated.

Zayek and Michael Taylor arrived in Kansai on a charter jet on Dec. 29. Taylor explained to an airport employee that he was a violinist coming from Osaka to give a concert, according to witness statements.

Taylor also tipped one of the employees around 1,000,000 Japanese yen, or USD $10,000. Documents showed that the employees discussed whether it was appropriate to keep the large sum of money and decided to return it.

According to the prosecutors, employees were also skeptic of the large black box Taylor and Zayek had with them, however, no one raised an alarm. It took two people to lift the box when the plane landed in the morning, but when they were preparing to board the plane at night, the same box needed at least four people to lift it.

The documents stated that the black box had never passed an X-ray scanner, as Taylor and Zayek made sure to book a charter terminal with minimal security.