Daniel Fountain

LONDON: Carlos Ghosn, who fled Japan where he was under house arrest facing trial for financial misconduct, left the country with the help of a former US Army Special forces officer hidden inside a large container used for audio equipment, according to reports.

Michael Taylor, a former Green Beret, George Antoine Zayek, along with an employee at Turkish airline MNG Jet Havacilik helped Ghosn escape from Japan, according to sources close to the investigation who were interviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

The report said the operation to extract Ghosn began on December 28, 2019 in Dubai, where Taylor and Zayek are said to have boarded a Global Express jet on to which two large black cases were loaded. The plane landed at Osaka International Airport on Dec. 29, the same day Ghosn was seen on surveillance footage leaving his Tokyo home alone.

MNG Jet announced on Friday that it had filed a criminal case after investigations showed that an employee, who allegedly falsified records to erase any mention of Ghosn and loaded the audio equipment container, had been involved in the escape plan.

Okan Kosemen, having smuggled Ghosn aboard the flight from Osaka to Istanbul, is said to have then boarded alongside the former Nissan chairman, according to the report.

The report says Ghosn was likely able to board with Taylor and Zayek in the box due to VIP travelers often being allowed to board without security inspections. The two men then left the jet and boarded a commercial flight from Osaka to Lebanon, airport records showed.

Kenji Takanishi, a spokesman for Kansai Airport in Osaka, said that while luggage inspections for private jets were meant to be handled in the same way as for commercial flights, some VIPs had been exempt from checks.

The former Renault-Nissan boss was then transferred to another aircraft which took off for Lebanon where he was reunited with his wife shortly afterward on Dec. 30 and was photographed the next day celebrating New Year’s Eve.

Turkish authorities charged Kosman and four pilots on Friday with migrant smuggling, the WSJ report said.

A lawyer for Ghosn said on Friday that he was angry and felt betrayed by the escape, but understood the businessman’s fears of not receiving a fair trial.

“My anger gradually began to turn to something else,” Takashi Takano said. Referring to Japan’s judicial system, he added: “I was betrayed, but the one who betrayed me is not Carlos Ghosn.”

Ghosn released a statement on Tuesday saying: “I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied.

“I have not fled justice - I have escaped injustice and political persecution. I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week,” he added.