The United States handed over to Japanese authorities two US citizens wanted by the Japanese judiciary on Monday for aiding former Renault-Nissan president Carlos Ghosn to flee to Lebanon on December 29, 2019, their attorneys said.

Lawyer Paul Kelly said his clients, Michael Taylor and his son Peter, lost a lawsuit that they filed in court to prevent the US authorities from extraditing them to Tokyo, which they accuse, along with a third partner - the Lebanese George Antoine Al-Zayek - of helping Ghosn escape.

Their lawyer said that Japanese prosecutors received their clients on Monday to be deported from the United States.

"This is a sad day for the family and for all those who believe that veterans deserve better treatment from their country," he added in a statement.

The justice and state departments in the United States declined to comment, and the Tokyo district attorney office - which will handle the case - declined to comment.

The two men will not be charged immediately, but they will likely be charged upon completion of the investigations that will begin upon their arrival in Japan.

Japanese prosecutors have not revealed where the two men will be detained, and it is possible that they will be held in the Tokyo detention center where Ghosn was being held after his arrest.

Under Japanese law, suspects can be held for up to 20 days before being charged or released, and their lawyers are not allowed to be present for interrogations in front of prosecutors.

When charged, courts often refuse to release defendants on bail.

Michael Taylor is a former soldier who was serving in the US special units, and after leaving the military, he moved to work in the private security sector.

An arrest warrant

The Japanese authorities had issued an arrest warrant against Michael Taylor and his son on charges of helping Ghosn flee to his motherland, and they were arrested by the US authorities last May, and Peter Taylor was at that time in Boston trying to flee from the United States to Lebanon, a country that the United States does not have an exchange treaty the wanted.

Immediately after their arrest, the father and his son filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the government from extraditing them to Japan because they could face torture-like conditions in its prisons.

On February 13, the US Supreme Court upheld the rulings issued in this case by the courts of first instance and appeals, and thus allowed the government to hand over the father and son to the Japanese authorities.

And US court documents showed that Michael Taylor, his son Peter and their third Lebanese partner Al-Zayek helped smuggle Ghosn from Osaka (western Japan) to Lebanon.

US prosecutors described the Ghosn smuggling operation as "one of the most impudent and nimble escapes in recent history."

In a box

Ghosn, 66, who has been under house arrest in Japan, is being tried for misappropriation of funds;

He managed to escape to Beirut after hiding in a large musical instrument box with 70 holes made to allow him to breathe.

Last week, a court in Istanbul sentenced 3 Turks to prison, namely: an official in a private jet leasing company, and two pilots, after they were found guilty of helping Ghosn escape.

The two pilots pleaded not guilty, asserting that they were not aware of Ghosn on board their plane.

According to the indictment, the escape included a stopover in Istanbul rather than a direct trip to Beirut, "in an effort not to arouse suspicion."

Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018 and imprisoned, but he took advantage of his situation under house arrest to arrange a daring escape that embarrassed the Japanese judicial authorities, and raised questions about the parties involved in his smuggling.

Ghosn - who holds 3 nationalities (French, Lebanese and Brazilian), against whom an international arrest warrant was issued;

Since fleeing Osaka, he has resided in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan.

Ghosn was being held pending trial on charges of financial misconduct, including failure to fully disclose his salary in Nissan's financial statements, and profit on the company's account through payments to car dealerships.

Ghosn denies any wrongdoing.