Carlos Ghosn: Ex-Nissan boss ‘walked out of home alone’ before fleeing Japan for Lebanon

Mystery deepens over how high-profile executive was able to escape months before trial

Surveillance cameras captured Nissan’s former chair Carlos Ghosn leaving his home alone before he fled to Lebanon while awaiting trial for financial misconduct, according to Japan’s state broadcaster NHK.

Cameras installed as part of his £6.9m bail agreement pictured the disgraced executive walking out of his residence on Sunday at noon and failing to return, NHK reported, months ahead of a high-stakes court case.

The account flies in the face of the outlandish getaway reported by Lebanese media, which suggested a Gregorian band and team of ex-special forces operatives helped the 65-year-old evade house arrest by smuggling him out of his home in a musical instrument case.

Mr Ghosn – who was fired for alleged financial misconduct and arrested on four separate charges in 2018 – became an international fugitive after revealing on Tuesday that he had “escaped injustice and political persecution” in Japan’s criminal justice system, which he described as “rigged”.

His dramatic escape is the latest twist in a scandal that has rocked the motoring world – threatening relations between Nissan and its main shareholder Renault – and heightened scrutiny on Japan’s criminal justice system, in which Mr Ghosn claims “guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied”.

Mr Ghosn, who is Lebanese and also holds French and Brazilian passports, is believed to have travelled via Istanbul, and on Friday a Turkish airline company confirmed its private jets had been used “illegally” in the escape.

Istanbul-based MNG Jet said an employee falsified records and that Mr Ghosn’s name did not appear on any documentation related to the flights.

“The two leases were seemingly not connected to each other. The name of Mr Ghosn did not appear in the official documentation of any of the flights,” MNG said in a statement, which did not reveal who the jets were leased to.

Turkey detained seven people on Thursday as part of a probe into how Mr Ghosn passed through the country. Four were pilots, two were airport workers, and the other a cargo company manager, according to the Turkish DHA news agency.

Meanwhile, Interpol issued an international wanted notice.

Lebanon’s justice minister Albert Serhan confirmed he had received one of the organisation’s so-called red notices, used to request that police forces around the globe arrest and detain fugitives.

It appeared unlikely that Mr Ghosn would be handed over to authorities in Japan, which has no formal extradition treaty with Lebanon. In his home country, the businessman enjoys no small status as a quasi-folk hero and is often held up as an example of the country’s booming entrepreneurial spirit.

While Mr Serhan suggested for the first time Mr Ghosn could be brought in for questioning, telling the Associated Press that Lebanon “will carry out its duties”, he also appeared to cast further doubt on the possibility Lebanon would hand him over to Japan.

Shortly after the Interpol notice, Mr Ghosn issued a statement seeking to distance his Lebanese wife and family from any role in his escape.

“The allegations in the media that my wife Carole and other members of my family played a role in my departure from Japan are false and misleading,” he said. “I alone organised my departure. My family played no role.”

Mr Ghosn, who is credited with saving Nissan from near-bankruptcy in the Nineties, was due to stand trial in April.

He is charged with under-reporting his future compensation and breach of trust. He has repeatedly asserted his innocence, claiming he is a victim of trumped-up charges at the hands of those who wish to prevent a fuller merger between Nissan and Renault.

Additional reporting by agencies