Tokyo prosecutors yesterday said that a request has been filed for the extradition of two Americans arrested in the US for allegedly helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan while he was on bail.
“We express our deepest gratitude for the cooperation the US authorities have shown to our request,” the Tokyo District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. “We plan to cooperate in all ways possible so the extradition procedures for the two can be carried out quickly.”
The completion of the extradition request does not immediately mean Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret and private security specialist, and his son. Peter Taylor, 27, would be handed over.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Arrested in May in Massachusetts, they are accused of helping Ghosn flee to Lebanon in December last year while he was awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges.
While their lawyer has argued that jumping bail is technically not a crime in Japan, prosecutors have rebuffed that argument, saying that Japan has arrest warrants out for the Taylors for allegedly helping a criminal escape, which is a crime under Japanese law.
The prosecutors have also been trying to bring Ghosn back to Japan, but Lebanon, unlike the US, does not have an extradition treaty with the nation.
If convicted in Japan, the Taylors could face a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a ￥300,000 (US$2,800) fine.
Authorities say the Taylors helped fly Ghosn out of Japan on a private jet, with the former Nissan chairman hidden in a large box.
Ghosn has repeatedly said that he is innocent.
Ghosn says that he fled because he believes he could not expect a fair trial in Japan.
He faced charges of under-reporting future income and breach of trust in diverting Nissan money for personal gain.
Ghosn says that the compensation was never decided on or received, and that the payments were legitimate.
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