Ghosn Wired Money to Alleged Escape Plotter, Prosecutors Say -- WSJ
July 08 2020 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Mark Maremont and Nick Kostov
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 8, 2020).
BOSTON -- Carlos Ghosn wired more than $860,000 to a company
tied to one of the two men being held in the U.S. on suspicion that
they helped the former auto titan escape from Japan late last year,
according to new court documents introduced by federal
prosecutors.
The new documents come as the two men, a Massachusetts father
and son, filed a fresh lawsuit seeking to be released on bail as
they battle extradition to Japan for their alleged roles in the
escape.
Michael L. Taylor, 59 years old, and his son Peter M. Taylor,
27, argued that they should be released on bail due in part to an
outbreak of Covid-19 at the county jail where they are being held
pending extradition. Thirty-six inmates at the county jail had
tested positive for Covid-19 as of July 2, and one inmate died on
that date, according to the new complaint, filed this week in U.S.
District Court in Massachusetts.
Mr. Ghosn, who was living in a court-monitored Tokyo house while
facing financial-crime allegations from his time running Nissan
Motor Co., fled Japan late last year, smuggled inside a
musical-equipment box onto a waiting private jet. U.S. prosecutors
said the Taylors were key participants in the plot, citing the
Japanese investigation which included extensive video evidence of
their movements in Japan.
Mr. Ghosn has denied the financial-crimes allegations in Japan
and has said he fled the country because he wouldn't receive a fair
trial.
Michael Taylor is a longtime security operative and former Army
Special Forces soldier who has made a career out of arranging
complicated overseas rescues and other missions. He and his son
were arrested in the U.S. on May 20 by federal authorities, acting
at the request of Japanese officials.
The bank documents filed by U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday are the
first allegedly demonstrating direct financial ties between Mr.
Ghosn and the Taylors.
The documents showed two wire transfers in October 2019 totaling
$862,500 from a Paris bank account prosecutors said was connected
with Mr. Ghosn, to Promote Fox LLC, a limited-liability company
managed by Peter Taylor and one of his brothers.
The wire-transfer records were included in a formal extradition
request made by Japanese authorities for the Taylors, parts of
which were introduced into court records this week. A spokeswoman
for Mr. Ghosn and an attorney for the Taylors declined to comment
on the wire transfers.
It isn't clear how much, if anything, the Taylors were paid by
Mr. Ghosn to help with the escape. Expenses for the plot included
the charter of two private jets. One jet, according to Japanese
prosecutors, flew Michael Taylor and an associate from Dubai to
Japan, where they allegedly loaded the box containing Mr. Ghosn
through a cargo door.
That jet flew to Istanbul, where Mr. Ghosn transferred to a
second jet bound for Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with
Japan.
The Taylors have hired a high-profile legal team to battle the
extradition request, including Abbe Lowell, who has represented
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Their lawyers have argued the
father and son didn't commit a crime in Japan and in any case
should be released on bail pending a decision on whether to
extradite them.
Federal Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell on Tuesday rejected
the Taylors' motions filed early last month to quash their arrest
warrants. Judge Cabell as of Tuesday afternoon hadn't yet ruled on
the Taylors' request to be released on bail.
The Taylors' new lawsuit cited the length of time it was taking
Judge Cabell to rule on the bail request, saying it "allowed the
Taylors' improper deprivation of liberty under life threatening
conditions to continue."
Write to Mark Maremont at mark.maremont@wsj.com and Nick Kostov
at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 08, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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