American Duo Plead Guilty To Aiding Former Nissan Chief’s Escape from Japan

U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and his son have pled guilty in Tokyo to charges of illegally helping former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan in a box aboard a private jet in December 2019.

One of three judges presiding over their first court appearance,Chief judge Hideo Nirei, asked Michael Taylor and his son Peter whether there was any mistake in the charges submitted by the Tokyo Prosecutors’ office, to which they both replied “No”.

Both father and son were extradited to Japan from the United States in March and are being held at the same jail in Tokyo where Ghosn was detained. They could face up to three years in prison.

Prosecutors accused them of helping Ghosn evade punishment and escape to Lebanon from western Japan’s Kansai airport, receiving $1.3 million for their services, some of which was paid to an advertising company owned by the younger Taylor. The Americans asked Ghosn for another $500,000 for legal fees after Japan sought their arrest, prosecutors said.

Their statement also said that Ghosn’s wife Carole Ghosn sought help from Michael Taylor, with Ghosn later contacting him from Tokyo with a phone he had hidden from Japanese authorities.

A third man, George-Antoine Zayek was also implicated. Zayek recruited by the Taylors, traveled to Japan later in 2019 to find a way through airport security, settling on the private jet terminal at Kansai airport as the best route out, the prosecutors said. Zayek remains at large.