Two men jailed over Carlos Ghosn’s Japanese escape

Two men involved in sneaking indicted former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn out of Japan have been sentenced to up to two years’ imprisonment.

The now-infamous tale of Ghosn’s great escape in 2019 from Japan to his home nation of Lebanon, where he remains because the two countries don’t hold an extradition treaty, has become the stuff of legend.

During his time as an executive, Ghosn is alleged to have siphoned off millions of dollars of Nissan funds for his personal use and to have deferred enormous chunks of his salary until his retirement, without telling shareholders.

Ghosn had been in and out of Japanese prison awaiting charges on alleged misuse of Nissan funds when he made a dramatic escape inside a box around Christmas of 2019.

Now, the US father and son who helped Ghosn flee Japan on a private plane have been sentenced. Sixty-year-old Michael Taylor has been sentenced to two years’ jail time by Japanese authorities, while his son, 28-year-old Peter Taylor, received one year and eight months.

The father and son were arrested in the US in May 2020, before being extradited to Japan in March this year. There, they were reportedly detained in the same Tokyo prison that held Ghosn before he was granted home detention, whereupon he made his escape.

This week, a Japanese court heard the backstory to how Ghosn fled Japan on December 29, 2019.

According to Automotive News Europe, the court heard Ghosn was packed into an oversized audio equipment case and smuggled past Japanese security on a private jet.

After travelling via Turkey, the three men landed in Beirut on the morning of December 30, 2019. Ghosn has stayed in Lebanon since.

“It has been one and a half years since the escape and there is still no prospect of a trial. The consequences of this case are very large,” Tokyo District Court chief judge Hideo Nirei reportedly said at the short hearing.

The Taylors “executed a highly premeditated plan proactively,” he added.

Both Michael and Peter Taylor’s sentences were reduced by 90 days because of their time spent jailed during the trial.

It is not known whether they will lodge an appeal. The men plead guilty to the charges in June but had requested leniency on the grounds they believed Ghosn was being tortured in prison, Automotive News reports.

The court reportedly heard Ghosn paid the men $US860,000 for the escape, $US400,000 of which was put towards the getaway jet.