TOKYO – Japanese prosecutors accused American father-son team of backing Carlos Ghosn, former Nissan Motor Co.
and Renault SA
chairman, when he fled Japan on board a private jet.
Michael Taylor, a 60-year-old Green Beret and long-term security worker, and his son Peter Taylor, 28, are charged with the execution of a criminal. If convicted they face a maximum sentence of three years. At the time of his escape, Mr Ghosn was facing charges of financial offenses, which he denies.
A Japanese lawyer declined for the Taylors to comment on how to deal with the allegations. They arrived in Japan on March 2 after an unsuccessful bid to avoid U.S. expulsion
The conviction of the Taylors marks the latest face in the sprawling legal battle against Mr Ghosn. The trial of Greg Kelly, a former Nissan chief executive along with Mr. Ghosn, has been going on since September last year. In February, two pilots and the manager of the company that registered the pier used in the escape were convicted of smuggling Mr Ghosn into Turkey.
Tokyo prosecutors have also issued a warrant of arrest for Mr. Ghosn’s wife, Carole Ghosn, alleging that she lied when she answered questions about her husband’s case in Tokyo. They are seeking to expand it, said Hiroshi Yamamoto, the deputy chief prosecutor.
Ms. Gosn, a U.S. citizen, is currently living with her husband in Lebanon, which does not have a peace treaty with Japan. Ms Gosn has called for the warrant to be issued.
Filing costs marks the end of the formal interrogation period for the Taylors, allowing them to apply for bail. However, it is very likely that either will be granted a bail application, as they have a role to play in helping Mr Ghosn escape.
After the Taylors were arrested in the U.S. in May, elder Mr. Taylor maintained that his son was kept in the dark about many of the details of the escape plan. The case was filed Monday with prosecutors in Tokyo claiming the two men were involved in the escape.
The uprising said the Taylors, along with a third prosecutor named George Zayek, handled Mr. Ghosn’s luggage, helped him by changing clothes in a Tokyo hotel and then directed to a hotel in Osaka.
Mr. Zayek is an American citizen of Lebanese origin, and a long-time partner of the elder Mr. Taylor. Mr Zayek, believed to be from Lebanon, could not be reached for reference.
During 2019, when Mr. Ghosn was out on bail, Peter Taylor flew to Japan several times to meet the former Chief, including on the day of the escape, according to court records released during the case for an extension in a U.S. lawsuit using photographic surveillance and evidence from drivers, hotel staff and airport staff to reconstruct Mr. Ghosn and the Taylors’ movements.
In December 2019, after a gathering at the Grand Hyatt Hotel near Mr. Ghosn’s home in Tokyo, the Taylors and Mr. Ghosn split into two groups. The elder left Mr. Taylor, Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Zayek to board a bullet train for Osaka, while Peter Taylor left for Tokyo airport, court records show.
The group that went to Osaka crashed into a hotel near Kansai International Airport and took off with a large musical instrument box, in which Mr Ghosn was hiding, according to prosecutors. Michael Taylor helped load the box on a private jet flight to Turkey, where Mr Ghosn boarded a second private jet for Beirut, they say.
Mr Ghosn has said he fled because he did not believe he would get a fair trial in Japan, while Japan says its courts are independent and treat the defendants with fair.
—Cieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.
At a news conference in Beirut in January, Carlos Ghosn said he had “escaped injustice” in Japan. Chip Cummins WSJ talks about what Mr Ghosn said and did not say, and what he revealed about possible next steps. Photo: Maya Alleruzzo / Associated Press (Video from 1/8/20)
Write to Sean McLain at [email protected]
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