Carlos Ghosn used public transportation to get from Tokyo to Osaka before boarding a private jet in his escape to Lebanon, Japanese media reports said.
The former head of Nissan and Renault took a bullet train around 4:30 p.m. local time on Dec. 29 from Tokyo’s Shinagawa station, according to the report by broadcaster NTV, which cited sources involved in the investigation.
He then took a taxi from Shin-Osaka station and stayed at a hotel near Kansai Airport, NTV said.
Ghosn was possibly accompanied by several people on the train journey, Japanese news agency Kyodo said.
Security cameras captured Ghosn leaving his home on Dec. 29 at about 2:30 p.m. local time and arriving some hours later at Shinagawa Station, Kyodo said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Ghosn boarded a private jet at Kansai Airport at 11:10 p.m., according to Kyodo.
Prosecutors are now working with police to piece together Ghosn's route and find out who helped him, Kyodo said.
A spokesman for Central Japan Railway, a bullet train operator connecting Tokyo and Osaka, said he doesn’t have any information to confirm the reports.
Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 on charges of financial crimes and had been out on bail as he awaited trial that was scheduled to start this year. He flew via Istanbul to Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, which doesn’t have an extradition agreement with Japan.
Ghosn, who holds Lebanese citizenship, is due to hold a press conference on Wednesday to provide his version of events.
Inspectors at Kansai Airport didn’t conduct X-ray checks on large cases that were brought aboard the jet on which Ghosn is thought to have made his getaway, according to reports.
Ghosn shared his secretive escape flight from Japan with a pair of Americans who have backgrounds in the private security business, reports said.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report
