US men arrested for helping Carlos Ghosn flee Japan challenge extradition case

Lawyers for the two men accused of enabling the escape of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan argued that US authorities wrongly arrested them for aiding bail jumping since it is not a crime in Japan. Former Green Beret Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor were arrested last month on charges of helping the business executive flee to Lebanon.

The lawyers argued on June 8 that neither bail jumping nor aiding someone do it is a crime in Japan. On the basis of this argument, they asked a federal judge in Boston to quash the warrants for their arrest or release them on bail. The defence lawyers said that Japan is now considering amending the law to make such acts a crime.

In January, Japanese authorities issued arrest warrants against the former Green Beret and two other men accused of smuggling former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan. The prosecutors then said that arrest warrants were issued for Michael Taylor, Peter Taylor and another man named George Antoine Zayek.

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Aided escape via Turkey

According to media reports, Taylor and Zayek accompanied the fugitive business tycoon from Japan to Turkey and landed at the smaller Ataturk airport. After travelling across the city to Istanbul airport, the duo then reportedly helped Ghosn to take a separate flight for Beirut. Taylor had served as a US special forces operative and now reportedly working as a private security contractor.

Japanese tax officials had found out that the former Nissan executive diverted corporate money for his private use. The National Tax Agency of Japan had reached the conclusion that Ghosn made donations to a Lebanese University and paid consultant’s fees to his sister using Nissan money. The tax agency had ordered Nissan to pay taxes on the 150 million yen, which was recorded as office expenses for three years since they determined that money was spent for private purpose.

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(With agency inputs)