• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: The Car That Started a ’70s Car Design Craze
  • Inflation Reduction Act Paying Off as Battery Makers Invest Billions in U.S. Factories
  • Back in Production, Ford Again Raises Pricing for F-150 Lightning.
  • First Look: 2024 Hyundai Sonata
  • Despite Two Decades of Warnings, Distracted Driving Remains a Major Problem
  • Treasury Dept Ruling Expected to Cut EV Tax Credits
  • Sen. Manchin Threatening to Sue Over New EV Battery Rules
  • Ford Bolsters EV Supply Chain with $4.5B Nickel Processing Plant
  • Unified UAW Talks Tough Before Contract Talks with Detroit Three
  • Faraday Future May Have One: Production Begins
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Nissan Rogue Platinum AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Soul GT-Line
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford Maverick Tremor
    • A Week With: 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S
    • A Week With: 2023 Infiniti QX80
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis GV80 Prestige 3.5 Turbo
    • First Drive: 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T
    • First Drive: 2023 Dodge Hornet GT
    • First Drive: 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70
    • First Drive: 2023 Nissan Ariya e-4orce AWD
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > The Year Begins With a Big Mystery: How Did Carlos Ghosn Get Out of Japan?

        The Year Begins With a Big Mystery: How Did Carlos Ghosn Get Out of Japan?

        Squeezed into a box after a private concert?

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Jan. 02, 2020
        Carlos Ghosn snuck out of Japan, claiming he could not get a fair hearing in the country.

        It may just be Jan. 2, but the new year, and new decade, are getting off to quite a start, at least for the automotive world where the burning question is: How did Carlos Ghosn, the former head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, sneak out of Japan?

        The 66-year-old executive, who had been awaiting trial in Tokyo on an assortment of financial corruption charges, turned up in Lebanon barely hours before 2019 ended, a country where he is highly unlikely to face extradition. There are any number of stories circulating about how Ghosn might have pulled off his bail jumping, one Lebanon media outlet claiming he was smuggled out of his residence in Tokyo inside a box.

        Getting off an island nation isn’t easy when you are being closely surveilled, so his successful escape is proving to be a major embarrassment for Japanese authorities. The case is, in fact, putting the country under the spotlight in light of Ghosn’s claim that he was a “hostage” in “a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed.”

        (Carlos Ghosn jumps bail, flees Japan)

        The prelude to Ghosn’s Great Escape begins Nov. 19, 2018, shortly after his corporate jet landed in Tokyo, when police come onboard and arrested him and his lieutenant, Greg Kelly. For most of the next four months, Ghosn is locked away in a tiny, unheated cell at the Tokyo Detention Center as prosecutors string out a series of charges designed to prevent the former executive from getting bail.

        While in Japan Carlos Ghosn was denied the ability to speak with his wife, Carole, unless he received permission from the court.

        Eventually, Ghosn does win release after the Japanese government starts to find itself under the microscope for its controversial approach to justice – a system that swallows up the accused and in which prosecutors claim an unlikely 90-plus percent conviction rate.

        Once Ghosn finally does get out of his cell – after posting a nearly $14 million bond – he is given harsh restrictions that include wearing a monitoring device, constant, close surveillance, the hiring of a security team, and severe limits on not only his travel but his use of the Internet. Claiming they want to prevent any effort to conceal evidence, prosecutors even convince the court to prevent Ghosn from meeting with his wife, Carole.

        Most days, according to reports, Ghosn met with his lawyers to discuss plans for his trial early this year, though neighbors reported he did occasionally leave the residence he was renting with his daughters.

        But then came the news that the Brazilian-born executive had somehow fled Japan, arriving in Turkey before moving on to Lebanon, where his family hails from. Such a move seemed highly unlikely, if for no other reason than the heavy surveillance and the fact that his Tokyo lawyer was holding Ghosn’s three passports – from France, Brazil and Lebanon.

        Known as “the Razor,” Ghosn attorney Junichiro Hironaka, held Ghosn’s passports and the former Nissan CEO still managed to leave Japan.

        (Nissan to get hit with $22M fine for underreporting Ghosn’s compensation)

        A number of theories, backed by uncertain evidence, have popped up to explain how he got out of Japan:

        ·       One of the most intriguing, presented by Lebanese TV station MTV, claims a Christmas band visited his residence, Ghosn then slipping inside a box ostensibly holding musical instruments. He was then shipped out of the country before taking a private plane to turkey;

        ·       Using data available on the Internet, Japan’s Asahi newspaper and the Wall Street Journal found records of a long-range private jet leaving the Kansai Airport for Turkey on Dec. 29, another jet leaving Istanbul shortly afterwards bound for Beirut;

        ·       The French newspaper Le Monde claims the escape was organized by Carole Ghosn and her brothers, allowing Carlos to enter Lebanon using an ID card;

        ·       Another French newspaper, Les Echos, claims Ghosn left Japan using a false identity and a forged passport, again traveling out of the country through a small airport outside Tokyo where he was less likely to be recognized.

        Significantly, some reports claimed Ghosn may have decided to move on his escape bid during the holidays because he learned he might be facing new charges, with new evidence indicating further financial crimes.

        Former Nissan exec Greg Kelly – who was arrested along with Ghosn – suggested Ghosn’s successor Hiroto Saikawa was being overpaid in a Japanese interview in June.

        The man hailed as the savior of near-bankrupt Nissan two decades ago was arrested following an internal Nissan investigation that, initially, focused on claims Ghosn had severely underreported his income. Other charges began to pile up, with claims he may have diverted millions of dollars in Nissan money through associates in the Middle East.

        For his part, Ghosn repeatedly asserted his innocence. If anything, he has argued, he was the victim of a “coup” aimed at ridding Nissan of foreign influences.

        His case follows other high profile instances in which foreigners have found themselves facing harsh conditions in Japanese prisons while facing questionable criminal allegations. That includes the case of Julie Hamp, the one-time global head of Toyota PR, who spent more than a month in detention before being shipped back to the U.S.

        Yoichi Masuzoe, the former governor of Tokyo, is one of those who has been outspoken in his criticism of the Japanese justice system. He has called for major reforms, in a blog post warning that, “Otherwise, the image of a country where suspects are subject to long-term detention in even economic cases will be known around the world, and it will discourage talented foreigners from coming to Japan to expand their businesses.”

        But, if anything, Ghosn’s escape may be pushing embarrassed Japanese authorities – backed by the country’s media – in the other direction. On Wednesday, the country’s largest newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, wrote that, “Running away is a cowardly act that mocks Japan’s justice system.”

        What Japanese officials will do next is uncertain. Lebanon doesn’t extradite its citizens, regardless of the charges they face abroad. But whether Ghosn, a global jet-setter, will be content to stay within the small country’s borders, is uncertain.

        (One year after arrest, Carlos Ghosn fires back)

        As for Japanese prosecutors, whether they might not try the former executive in absentia is also uncertain. In some ways, a well-placed source told TheDetroitBureau.com, they may actually be happy Ghosn is gone and won’t turn the trial into a circus. If, as the executive has argued, they simply wanted him out of the country, they achieved that goal.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Rearview Mirror: The Car That Started a ’70s Car Design Craze

        Yesterday
        Ultium Battery Pack

        Inflation Reduction Act Paying Off as Battery Makers Invest Billions in U.S. Factories

        March 31, 2023
        2022 Ford F-150 Lightning - muddy on trail

        Back in Production, Ford Again Raises Pricing for F-150 Lightning.

        March 31, 2023

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: