Two men were arrested on Wednesday in the United States. This father and son are suspected by Japan of having helped former car magnate Carlos Ghosn to flee Japanese justice hidden in a musical instrument case.
Michael T., 59, a former member of the US special forces converted to private security, and Peter T., 27, were arrested in the early hours of Harvard, Massachusetts, the US department told AFP. of Justice. They must appear by videoconference before a federal judge in Boston.
One of them was about to leave for Lebanon
Prosecutors say they pose a "great risk of absconding" and must remain in custody pending Japan's formal request for extradition. Peter T. was arrested as he was preparing to leave for Lebanon, where the former boss of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance took refuge, and who has no extradition treaty with Japan, they said.
The two men, as well as the Lebanese George-Antoine Z., are accused by Tokyo of having helped Carlos Ghosn to escape Japanese justice during a spectacular escape on the evening of December 29.
Affected by complaints of financial embezzlement, the big boss was on bail, with a ban on leaving Japan, when he left for Lebanon, of which he is a national. Asked several times about the conditions of his escape, Carlos Ghosn refused to deliver the details, but American court documents specify the outline of the shipment.
Seven meetings with the ex-CEO of Renault
Peter T. had visited Japan three times in the months before the operation and met Carlos Ghosn seven times, according to these documents. On December 28, he took a hotel room at the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo, where Carlos Ghosn joined him. The two men chatted for an hour, according to the establishment's surveillance cameras.
The next day, Michael T. and George-Antoine Z. arrived at Kansai Airport, near Osaka in western Japan, on a private jet from Dubai. They carried large black boxes similar to musical instrument cases and told airport workers that they were musicians.
An arrest warrant issued on January 30
After dropping these boxes at an airport hotel, they traveled to Tokyo by train. While traveling, Carlos Ghosn returned to the Grand Hyatt, where he went directly to Peter T.'s room to change his clothes. The four men then found themselves in this hotel.
Peter T. left alone to take a plane for China. The other three returned to the Kansai Airport hotel where the caissons had stayed. On the cameras, only Michael T. and George-Antoine Z. will leave with the heavy boxes. “There is no image of Carlos Ghosn leaving the room. In fact, he was hidden in the crates "carried by the two men, according to court documents.
At the airport, they were able to load their luggage without subjecting them to security checks, as was then the rule for private jets. They then flew to Turkey, then to Lebanon. The Japanese justice system issued arrest warrants against Carlos Ghosn and his three alleged accomplices on January 30.
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- Society
- United States
- evasion
- Carlos Ghosn