A former US special forces soldier and his son have been sentenced to prison in Japan for helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee the country.
Michael L. Taylor in passport control in Istanbul, together with George-Antoine Zayek who is also said to have assisted the former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in fleeing prosecution in Japan.
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A court in Tokyo sentenced Michael Taylor to two years in prison, while his son Peter was sentenced to 20 months for contributing to the former CEO’s wild escape.
Ghosn was on bail when he fled to Lebanon in 2019, which has no extradition agreement with Japan. He did so by hiding in a box that was flown by private plane via Turkey in December 2019.
In some reports the box is referred to as a box for car parts, in others it was for music equipment.
Several passes
Ghosn was for two decades head of the car giant Nissan and he was also chairman of Mitsubishi when he was arrested in November 2018 and charged with financial default.
The 67-year-old Brazilian-born, who now has a Lebanese passport, is also a French and Brazilian citizen.
He is also under investigation for economic crime in France and a court in the Netherlands sentenced him in May to pay back around 50 million kroner in salary, paid by the car manufacturers’ holding company.
Delivered
Father and son Taylor were arrested in Massachusetts in May last year, and extradited to Japan in March. It was possible as the United States has just an extradition agreement with Japan and happened after an eight-month lawsuit.
According to the indictment, they received at least 1.3 million dollars to assist in the escape.
A third person, George-Antoine Zayek, who is also suspected of having contributed to the escape, has not been arrested.
—-Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn escaped prosecution in Japan in 2019 and is currently in Lebanon.
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Peter Taylor said in a Massachusetts court in January that he met Ghosn in Japan in 2019, and that he then wanted Ghosn to use his PR company to improve his reputation.
Referred to soldier motto
Michael Taylor is a former special forces soldier who specializes in bringing home children who have been kidnapped, The Guardian wrote in March.
According to Vanity Fair, he refers to the motto of the American special forces when asked why he did it. That motto is “to liberate the oppressed”.
At the same time, the trial against another American, Greg Kelly, is taking place in Tokyo. He is a former vice president of Nissan, and has denied that he approved too large payments to Ghosn.
Before he was arrested, Ghosn was a star in the car industry, having saved Nissan from bankruptcy after he was sent there by the French owner company Renault in 1999.
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