Carlos Ghosn accomplices plead guilty to helping him escape Japan

Michael Taylor and son Peter face up to three years in prison

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  Former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn addresses journalists in Beirut on his reasons for dodging trial in Japan, where he is accused of financial misconduct. AFP

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  Detention centre personnel wait for the arrival of a bus transporting former US special forces member Michael Taylor and his son Peter, who allegedly staged the operation to help fly former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in 2019, in Tokyo. AFP

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  A man (bottom centre) believed to be US citizen Peter Taylor, who allegedly helped his father Michael to stage an operation to fly former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in 2019, gets on a bus after arriving at Narita airport in Japan following his extradition from the US. AFP

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  Pilot Noyan Pasin, left, speak to media in front of the Bakirkoy courthouse in Istanbul after a verdict trial against four pilots, two flight attendants and a private airline official accused of smuggling former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan. AFP

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  Lebanese Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm meets with Japan's deputy Justice Minister Hiroyuki Yoshiie in Beirut to discuss the case of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, currently a fugitive in Lebanon. AFP

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  Turkey's state news agency published images of two men Michael Taylor and George Antoine Zayek accused of helping fugitive businessman Carlos Ghosn escape via an Istanbul airport, as he fled a corruption trial in Japan. AFP

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  Carole, the wife of former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, during a press conference in which her husband addressed journalists on his reasons for dodging trial in Japan, at the Lebanese Press Syndicate in Beirut. AFP

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  Japanese prosecutors carry bags as they leave the residence of former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn after he fled Japan to avoid a trial. AFP

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  Junichiro Hironaka, lawyer for former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, attends a press conference after a court hearing in Tokyo. AFP

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  Former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn arrives for a pre-trial hearing at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo on June 24, 2019. AFP

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  Lebanon's Ambassador to Japan Nidal Yehya (centre) leaves after a court hearing on the case of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo. AFP

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  This courtroom sketch illustrated by Masato Yamashita depicts former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn attending his hearing at the Tokyo district court on January 8, 2019. AFP

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  Judge Yuichi Tada (back second left) sits while members of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn's legal team look on ahead of a court hearing on Mr Ghosn's case at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo on January 8, 2019. AFP

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  A portrait of ousted Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn is seen on a publicity billboard in his support at a street in Beirut. AFP

An American father and son on Monday pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court to charges they illegally helped former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan hidden in a box and on a private jet.

Before appearing in the Tokyo District Court, Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son Peter admitted to helping Mr Ghosn escape after they were asked to do so by Mr Ghosn's wife Carole, 54, Kyodo newswire reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Mr Taylor, 60, and his son Peter, 28, appeared in a Japanese court for the first time after the US extradited them in March. They are being held at the same jail in Tokyo where Mr Ghosn was detained and face up to three years in prison.

Mr Ghosn, who was arrested in November 2018, faces charges of financial impropriety by under-reporting his remuneration by more than 9 billion yen ($83 million) during his time as the chairman of Nissan and Mitsubishi. He has denied all charges, insisting he is the victim of a coup staged by Nissan executives.

The Taylors helped Mr Ghosn, 67, flee from his residence in Tokyo’s Minato Ward to a hotel in the capital and then to Osaka on December 29, 2019, before making their way to Kansai International Airport, according to the indictment.

They then hid Mr Ghosn in a box, passed through airport security and flew him aboard a private jet to Turkey despite knowing that the former auto titan was prohibited from travelling abroad based on his bail conditions, Kyodo reported.

The former Nissan chief executive, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, then flew to Lebanon, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan. Japanese officials have met with their Lebanese counterparts and have sought Mr Ghosn's detention through Interpol.

Lebanese authorities have refused to extradite him. Mr Ghosn, who led the Japanese car maker Nissan for two decades, has repeatedly said he would not be given a fair trial in Japan and has said he did not escape justice but "escaped injustice and political persecution" and described the Japanese judiciary process as a "hostage justice" system.

In February, a Turkish court sentenced an official from a private airline and two pilots to four years and two months in prison each for their involvement in Mr Ghosn’s escape.

Last month, French judges questioned the former Nissan boss in Beirut on charges of financial misconduct from his time in charge of the Renault-Nissan alliance, his lawyers said. They are looking into allegations of financial impropriety in France, including a party thrown at the Palace of Versailles, irregularities with a Renault-Nissan distributor in Oman and the activities of a Dutch subsidiary of the car firm.

Apart from taking interviews, Mr Ghosn, who is now in Beirut, has started a website, published a book and is working on a documentary.