Ghosn fled Japan after security firm hired by Nissan stopped surveillance, report says

[Mark-x]

 Ousted Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn left his Tokyo residence after a private security firm hired by the automaker stopped monitoring him, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

Ghosn has become an international fugitive after he revealed on Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape what he called a "rigged" justice system in Japan, where he faces charges relating to alleged financial crimes.

Nissan Motor Co. hired a private security company to watch Ghosn, who was on bail and awaiting trial, to check whether he met any people involved in the case, the three sources said.

But his lawyers warned the security company to stop watching him as it would be a violation of his human rights, and Ghosn was planning to file a complaint against the company, the sources said.

The security company stopped its surveillance by Dec. 29,

 

Japanese public broadcaster NHK, citing investigative sources, said a surveillance camera by the authorities in Ghosn's home showed him leaving alone around noon on Sunday, and did not show him returning.

It was unclear how Ghosn, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship, was able to orchestrate his departure from Japan. He entered Lebanon legally on a French passport, one source has told Reuters.

Turkish private jet operator MNG Jet said on Friday that Ghosn used two of its planes illegally in his escape from Japan. MNG Jet said it leased two jets to two different clients in agreements that "were seemingly not connected to each other." One plane flew from Osaka to Istanbul, the other from Istanbul to Beirut. "The name of Mr Ghosn did not appear in the official documentation of any of the flights," it said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Ghosn slipped out of Japan aboard a private jet hidden in a large black case typically used to carry audio gear. He was accompanied by a pair of men with names matching those of American security contractors, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with Turkey's probe into the escape.

Some Lebanese media, in reports similar to The Wall Street Journal, have floated a Houdini-like account of Ghosn being packed in a wooden container for musical instruments after a private concert in his home, but his wife has called the account "fiction."

Turkish interior ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli told reporters earlier on Friday that Ghosn was believed to have been transferred through the cargo section of the airport in Istanbul, but did not provide further details.