TOKYO: Japanese investigators found no suggestions that Carlos Ghosn was preparing to flee the country in the records of a mobile phone that he was allowed to use while out on bail, informed sources told Jiji Press on Monday.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office believes the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman, 65, may have used the smartphone of a collaborator after departing his residence in Tokyo to prepare for the escape, the sources said.

On April 25, Tokyo District Court released Ghosn on bail and allowed him to use a mobile phone without internet connectivity. Ghosn's defense team has submitted to the court his phone records through to the end of November, as required under the bail terms.

The prosecutors' office thinks Ghosn was already preparing for the flight at that time, but no signs suggesting the effort were found in the phone records, the sources said.

Ghosn's Lebanese, French and Brazilian passports, which had been kept by the defense team, were confiscated by the prosecutors' office to investigate the circumstances of his escape.

He was allowed to carry another French passport in a locked case at all times in order to stay legally in Japan.

Ghosn, who has been charged with financial misconduct in Japan, is thought to have departed Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, on the night of Dec. 29 for Lebanon via Turkey. No records of his departure from Japan have been confirmed.

The prosecutors' office believes that Ghosn exited Japan without using the passport he was allowed to carry.

JIJI Press