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© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Defiant Ghosn pins hopes on French probes to clear his name
By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and ZEINA KARAM BEIRUT©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
65 Comments
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Alex McLaren
His mistake was breaking Law 1 : Never Outshine The Master (48 Laws of Power).
He made his bosses at Nissan feel threatened, so they had to take him down.
Gaijinjland
Let it go. He’s a tycoon who made the Japanese prosecutors look like idiots. He did nothing worse than his American counterparts did. And he made a heck less than his American counterparts.
kennyG
So, he or they still living in Nissan's property in Beirute? How many are those ? I forgot, 5 or 6 luxury houses all over the world purchased by Nissan or Nissan's remittance? Do Japan and Lebanon have a tax treaty in place?
Gosh. He is a genius. He doesn't even need a small army of Japanese accountants. He should run the biggest multinational tax farm.
bokuda
We should give a trophy to the Japanese Justice defenders. it's a really hard work that never ends.
kennyG
That's BS. You are insulting non-Japanese professionals who knows well how Japanese tax law works ( Don't you know not a few major accounting or law farms in Japan are jointly managed with foreign-farms?), not to mention that it is questionable if such small army of Japanese accountants , in reality, could interrogate him face to face or not.
We all don't know what all those players like Hari-Nada, Jose-Nunoz, so many non-Japanese figures watching Ghosn day in day out in Nissan have confessed so far under the table.
kennyG
So far it's been reported Carole Ghosn arranged his dramatic escape together with their family.
Even Ghson's 3rd daughter handing money to Taylor, was video-captured.
Let us all see how Taylors testify in the official court.
Tora
pepelepew
It's not. And that's where the farce should end, right there. End of story. There can be no case, based exactly on this.
gakinotsukai
just BS
In the past France put in jail Total CEO and an ex-minister because of an occult international deal for exemple.
In international diplomacy, you have more to lose protecting a loose cannon.
Yohan
(Ghosn was kept in solitary confinement in Japan for months without being allowed to speak with his wife)
True, there are many so-called grey-zones around Ghosn, it's not only about himself, but about his family members as well. Everybody is innocent of course...don't know, cannot remember etc.
Ghosn is a man suffering of megalomania. It's never enough money for him, he wants more and more, however it is difficult to investigate, as everything is mixed up between what is legal and business and what is misusing company money for his expensive private life-style...
or
or
or
or
Carole - who is holding also US citizenship - said she was “done with Japan”.
Japan has issued international wanted notices for the couple, which means the two will live in Lebanon as fugitives and could be arrested if they leave their country.
It is not only about Carole, his wife, the entire family has to be investigated, all their friends (Kelly for example) and even former friends have to be investigated too, but of course there is a wall of silence...such international investigations take years.
To successfully convict Ghosn is indeed very difficult. He is highly intelligent and very rich. He knows how to play cat and mouse... for how long he can do that is the question.
kennyG
Supervised visits? Yeah right, maybe with a prosecutor together who hopefully has native level of 5 different language sitting side by side to both, trying the best not to ruin their privacy, if Carole was considered to be completely clean from the beginning, if Ghosn is not the kind of guy who complains about non-presence of his lawyer during interrogation, whom he betrayed and dumped like a garbage and disappeared on supervised bail period.
justasking
This again?
Yohan
Ask the two Taylors who assisted Ghosn to escape from Japan, both US citizens, how long they have been in detention in USA before extradited to Japan. Bail was always denied by US-judges.
Compare them with Ghosn - a foreigner in Japan, he was not in a prison cell most of the time but out on bail, living in a comfortable house in one of the most expensive places in Tokyo, was not even under house arrest and of course he also had lawyers (he did not pay them yet btw....) - Carlos Ghosn's three-person legal team of Japanese lawyers all quit of course after former Nissan chief absconded.
Yohan
Ghosn could avoid prosecution in the US, paying US regulators USD 1,- million out of his wallet, paid USD 15 million using money from Nissan and is barred from any executive job in US companies for 10 years.
A French judge allowed tax authorities to seize USD 16 million in assets from Ghosn and his wife, Carole.
A Dutch court ordered fugitive former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn to repay more than USD 6 million.
Ghosn also skipped bail in Japan, about USD 14 million are forfeited.
People who helped him against payment of millions of USD to escape from Japan are now in jail in Turkey and two US citizens were arrested in USA and after spending months in US-jails finally extradited to Japan facing Japanese justice.
Interpol issued a red alert notice to law enforcement worldwide to provisionally arrest him.
Now he is in Lebanon, a very unstable and corrupt country with his wife, pays for armed bodyguards and claims innocence.
Septim Dynasty
Because France likely helped him to escape in the first place. The Taylors can't simply and easily pull the rescue in the first place! Ghosn is an elite in the French world, so he must receive tremendous help from French intelligence agencies. Additionally, France wants to influence more in Lebanon, so Ghosn can be a helpful asset for the French.
wtfjapan
Because J-Justice suspected she would be doing what she actually did
ever heard of supervised visits!? seems like J justice hasnt
wtfjapan
90% of federal cases in the U.S., end in guilty pleas.
does US justice have mandatory detention easily prolonged indefinitely at the discretion of prosecutors, no defence lawyers present during interrogations, very little chance of bail, forced confessions!?
wtfjapan
Who cares about him? He really is yesterday's news.
J justice and J media seem to care about him, nothing worse than losing face in Japan , justice be damned
Tungsten
Although it is hard to decouple this Ghosn story and look at the current condition of the Japanese justice system thanks to Ghosn’s greed to gain more financially by suing in the Netherlands and it backfiring, I think it still stands that Japanese justice system needs a major overhaul to catch up with those of top democracies. The recent passing of the Sri Lankan woman whose escape from domestic violence resulted in her dying in detention also points out to the same systematic disfunctioning of the Japanese justice system. Justice and fairness is the backbone of a strong society and is necessary for everyone.
Richard Gallagher
Here's a clue. 99% of individuals arrested and indicted for a crime are guilty. Most crimes are minor offenses such as larceny, drunken driving, etc. Ghosn was not arrested arbitrarily.
90% of federal cases in the U.S., end in guilty pleas.
Ghosn, he's a criminal. Clear his good name? That's amusing.
bokuda
They use that confessions as main evidence in most trials. 83% of trials are based on confessions.
You can convict anybody if you can keep him in detention indefinitely.
Do the hustle
EDIT:
They held him for two years trying to force a confession from him. Their evidence must be very weak.
Do the hustle
They half him for two years trying to force a confession from him. Their evidence must be very weak.
kennyG
Because J-Justice suspected she would be doing what she actually did
William77
Not speaking wisdom even if spoken with multiple accounts.
browny1
Ghosn may well be guilty of some improprieties - time will tell.
But that is actually separate from what he "escaped" from.
And that is a system of justice practiced by a leading democratic nation that simply doesn't come up to scratch.
Being sneakily called back to Japan(and Kelly) , arrested and then interrogated for months without legal presence and denied access to his wife and family were just the 1st steps in his final decision to get out.
The prolonging of procedures ad infinitum saw him realize that he will be kept literally a "prisoner" here for years whether in custody or on bail.
This has been confirmed by the Kelly trial, with years having passed and the judicial machinations progressing achingly slow.
Pair this with the status of "Prosecutors as Gods" with seemingly unlimited powers, and the mix of Big Inc / Govt and their de facto pressure - then no one's going to do well in such a situation, least Ghosn.
The simple reality that the 800 year old Magna Carta and one of it's principle clauses Habeas Corpus has become a cornerstone of citizen justice throughout the democratic world, but is not realized here in Japan.
That is what the escape was about. Escape from a system harking back to Meiji.
fxgai
Carlos is a hero to me!
I wish him luck and innocent verdicts for all those wrongly facing persecution in relation to the whole farce.
Aly Rustom
Northernlife, EXCELLENT POST!
Aly Rustom
exactly! well said!
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
Good for him. Thumbing his nose at the corrupted, racist J-elites and they still can't catch him!
ThonTaddeo
The only Japanese citizens for whom the justice system works "well" are those with their head in the sand who think it will never happen to them.
kennyG
What the heck is he complaining about?
mariasjapan
Gone Carlos Gone!
pepelepew
How's it possible that a guy who doesn't read, write and barely speaks Japanese is able to fool a small army of Japanese accountants for a number of years without any help from a Japanese person?
ReasonandWisdomNippon
Mr Ghosn knew the justice system in Japan.
He came willingly.
Got hired willingly.
Made millions each year.
Didn't have a problem with the conviction rate until he broke the laws and run away.
The justice system in Japan works well for Japanese citizens! !
Only foreigners keep complaining how unfair is for them! !
ReasonandWisdomNippon
You get hired for Japanese company as CEO.
You follow Japanese rules and laws.
When I get hired in America or Europe, I follow the rules and laws of the land.
I don't break the laws and the moment people want to ask questions I run away hidding in a suit case, paid huge amount of money to smuggle him out of Japan, too.
kennyG
He is entitled to it forever even after he could be found guilty here in JT community
quercetum
question
“In Japan, you had a Japanese person
interrogating
me writing in Japanese and wanting me to sign things in Japanese that I don’t understand,” he said.
Tony W.
The French justice system will require the prosecution of this case to be supervised by a magistrate to ensure the case is sound. Obviously they already have doubts about his innocence of doings in Europe. If they find him guilty abd they don't have an extradition agreement with Lebanon's dodgy government, they should take a leaf out of Ghosn's book and send in some Foreign Legionnaire's to "liberate" him.
Goodlucktoyou
His son and wife should also be on Interpol most wanted list.
You do know how much money he has, his political ties with corrupt Lebanese kingmakers, mansions in Brazil, etc?
stormcrow
Ghosn looks pretty good. He's been gettin' some sun.
livvy
Fighto! Let's not forget that he also is entitled to presumption of innocence until the prosecutor proves his guilt to the satisfaction of a jury of Ghosn's peers in a court of law.
Ghosn's part is not to show lily-white colors in court but merely to defend or explain his actions. He felt he couldn't get that chance in Japan, and escaped Japanese justice with help from outside Japan.
Michael Machida
Please edit: When the movie comes out
Aly Rustom
William and bokuda- VERY WELL SAID!
bokuda
He gives me some hope in my everyday j-live.
watching news about olimpics, misogyny, xenophobia, deaths of detainees, ... hits me hard every time.
in Ghosn i see a rebel fighting the system.
William77
Japan already made a bad name of itself with his archaic and inhumane “justice system”
I’m sorry for Kelly that needs to go through a bunch of incompetent and xenophobe bureaucrats.
Fighto!
Well argued. All them people cheering Ghosn on like he was a hero seem to have gone missing! The Hollywood action scene has faded, and they likely know his time is up, and Japan will eventually get him back to face justice.
Have your day in court Ghosn, and prove your innocence of the charges!
NOMINATION
It sure is a big change of tune around here. People here were celebrating when ge escaped and acted like Carlos Ghosn lives in all of us ex-pats here in Japan.
bakakuma
Rags to Riches to Rags Story
Mark
There is no doubt in my mind that Nissan wants this man locked up to cover up their financial misconducts.
He did not need to escape, but he and his lawyers knew this will not be a fair trial, and so the only option they had was to leave Japan and fight the charges from abroad.
Tom Doley
Japan's legal system is a joke. On par with North Korea and China. Lots of slimy tactics used.
Fighto!
Wrong. Justice must go on, despite the disaster we are in. Japan should give millions of $US to members of the Lebanese gov't to encourage them to capture and escort Ghosn back to Japan to face justice.
sakurasuki
That's practically what happens to any foreigners in Japan who deal with Japanese law, beside that usually the process already have bias toward foreigners.
Aly Rustom
also one of 3 countries in Asia where you are denied a lawyer during questioning by the J cops. The other 2 being China and N Korea.
Aly Rustom
which is FAR MORE than we can expect from the BS J "Justice" system
Meiyouwenti
He’s aged! He’s lost almost all of his hair. Life in exile must have stressed him out. Come back to Japan, Carlos, and face trial. Chances are you’ll be convicted with a suspended sentence.
Michael Machida
He's not really good at
smiling for the camera is he?
didou
French justice will not clear his name
Wellington
With thousands of people dying daily from Covid 19, we have better things to concern ourselves with than this crook, and fugitive from justice.
He's looking for a forum where he will not be cross-examined and also one where he can try to divine what the French authorities have on him by the questions they ask him.
The Dutch court saw through his lies, hopefully so will the French authorities.
He can't be arrested in Lebanon so it's a win win publicity stunt for this grande mentiroso.
I have my doubts as to whether a movie will be made about him. Who cares about him?
He really is yesterday's news.
Scarce
The only country that says Ghosn is a fugitive is Japan that touts there 99% conviction rate due to the same tactics used by North Korea.
Darius
I can't wait for the movie about Ghosn's escape. It should be called Carlos Gone.
WA4TKG
I said it when this "Story" broke:
If this doesn't make it to the Hague, it will be nothing less than a Travestry of Justice, when it DOES, it will show the world what it's like to be the Accused, in Japan.