Ghosn flees to Lebanon to escape ‘rigged’ Japan legal system

Carlos Ghosn, the former automotive titan facing trial for financial crimes, fled to Lebanon to escape what he called Japan’s “rigged” justice system.

The dramatic exit followed Ghosn’s equally surprise arrest just over a year ago in Tokyo on charges of financial misconduct. Lebanon, where the former head of Nissan and Renault grew up and has citizenship, provides legal protection against extradition.

“I have not fled justice,” Ghosn said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “I have escaped injustice and political persecution.”

How he got to Lebanon is unclear: Ghosn’s lawyer says all his passports were confiscated and he was under constant surveillance. Lebanese media reported that he arrived on a private jet from Turkey, and the newspaper Annahar cited caretaker State Minister Salim Jreissati as saying the executive entered with a French passport.

Ghosn, 65, says he’s the victim of a conspiracy among Nissan executives, prosecutors and government officials to prevent him from further integrating the company with Renault. He was to be tried for what prosecutors and his former colleagues at Nissan called a pervasive pattern of financial misconduct and raiding of corporate resources for personal gain. Ghosn denies those allegations.

Ghosn’s strict bail terms were designed to prevent him from absconding. He couldn’t spend more than one night away from his house without a judge’s permission. A video camera was trained on his front door, and at the end of each month, Ghosn was required to provide a list of everyone he had met.

Other than a one-hour video conference in November and another over Christmas, Ghosn wasn’t allowed to see or speak to his wife, Carole. She told Bloomberg Television last month that Ghosn should face trial in France. The executive has French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship.

“Ghosn has turned into a fugitive from a suspect,” said Koji Endo, an analyst at SBI Securities in Tokyo. He will “probably never return to Japan,” and if he did, he would be arrested immediately.

Ghosn’s attorney, Junichiro Hironaka, said in televised comments that the first he heard of his client’s escape was the TV news. No one answered the phone at the Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office, the Tokyo District Court or the Immigration Bureau of Japan, and nobody was available to comment at the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Foreign Ministry declined to comment, and a Nissan representative said the company had no comment. Japan has a national holiday starting Tuesday through the end of the week.

“I am very surprised,” French Junior Economy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told France Inter radio. Later, in an interview with BFM TV, she said Ghosn “is not above the law.” The office of the president declined to comment on the matter, and other officials weren’t immediately available for comment.