Carlos Ghosn, the notorious former chief executive of Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi (OTC: NSANY) (OTC: RNLSY) (OTC: MSBHY) motors has escaped Japan to return to his home country of Lebanon in what can only be described as a Hollywood-esque escape involving a musical instrument box and ex-green beret Michael L. Taylor.
Ghosn was smuggled out by Taylor as part of an elaborate plan that was completely illegal, while he was awaiting trial in Japan. His attorneys held his passports, yet he was able to sneak through the Japanese airport security packed inside an audio-equipment case with breathing holes drilled into the bottom.
In a statement provided on Tuesday directly from Lebanon, Ghosn stated that he would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied."
Ghosn is a citizen of France, Brazil and Lebanon, has been held in Japan for more than a year in jail and was under house arrest for financial misconduct. More specifically, Ghosn settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraudulently hiding from investors the $140 million in retirement pay he was due. In fact, Japanese officials have alleged that Ghosn still has millions up his sleeve he has not disclosed.
Ghosn has been credited for saving Nissan from bankruptcy in 1999, rising from COO to CEO in just a short five years. Under Ghosn's leadership, the company went from a $229 million loss in 1998 to the most profitable automaker in the world in 2003. By 2004, the shares of both Renault and Nissan had risen significantly and Nissan shares in Tokyo nearly doubled. In 2005, Ghosn became the first executive to be named CEO of two companies concurrently listed on the Fortune Global 500.
Many have said that Ghosn believes all the charges against him are part of an elaborate plan on the part of his enemies to dethrone him from the carmaking empire he has created. He also said in his statement that he has "not fled justice - I have escaped injustice and political persecution."
"I know the profile," fellow auto executive Bob Lutz said regarding Ghosn. "That type of personality does tend to pretty easily slip over the line and do things that the rest of us would not do, because they think they're ... so well-connected and of such vast importance to the economy that nobody would ever call them on it."
Ex green-beret Taylor said he felt empathy for Ghosn's due to the own trials and tribulations he experienced in his own life doing time in the US justice system: "I learned about Carlos Ghosn's plight, and felt very much like him, in the sense that we were both held hostage in an unfair legal system," Mr. Taylor said.
Taylor is known for designing and executing covert, elaborate rescue and escape missions for individuals who need urgent assistance.
"The guy was clearly a black-ops type," said a law-enforcement official who knows him. "He did the kind of things that law enforcement couldn't do."