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Feds say Americans' bid to avoid extradition in Ghosn escape is 'flawed'

BOSTON — U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday said a former Green Beret and his son, wanted by Japan for helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee the country, were advancing a "flawed" interpretation of Japanese law to fight their extradition. Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, were arrested in Massachusetts last month at Japan's request for allegedly smuggling Ghosn out of the country on Dec. 29, 2019, in a box while he was out on bail awaiting trial on financial charges. Ghosn fled to Lebanon, his childhood home, after being charged with engaging in financial wrongdoing, including by understating his compensation in Nissan's financial statements. He denies wrongdoing. Lawyers for the Taylors in a motion last week asked a federal judge in Boston to quash the provisional warrants issued in May for their arrests, arguing that "bail jumping" is not a crime in Japan. Defense lawyers argued that helping someone jump bail was also not a crime. While Japan issued arrest warrants for the Taylors in January, the lawyers said the crime stated in the warrants is an immigration offense and a non-extraditable misdemeanor. But U.S. prosecutors in a brief filed on Tuesday said it would be "unprecedented" for the extradition case at this junction to be tossed based on a "flawed interpretation of Japanese law and a mischaracterization of the facts." While Japan has not yet formally sought their extradition, the country has confirmed that Taylors' conduct constitutes a felony, U.S. prosecutors said. "The purported loophole through which the Taylors seek to evade justice simply does not exist," U.S. prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors added that neither Taylor, including Michael, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and private security specialist, should be released from jail as they are flight risks. Abbe Lowell, the Taylors' lawyer, said he was reviewing the filing. Related Video: Government/Legal Mitsubishi Nissan Renault Carlos Ghosn

Mitsubishi realigning its SUV range to create more size difference

A report in Autocar says Mitsubishi wants more literal space between its three core SUVs. The outlet quotes "a senior source" saying, "Today we aren't in an ideal position, with our SUVs close in size, but in the next 18 months you will start to see a strategy that separates them out." Redesigns for the next generation of the Outlander, Eclipse Cross, and Outlander Sport will put about 200 millimeters' (7.9 inches) difference in length between each. Right now, the Outlander stands 184.8 inches long, the Eclipse Cross 173.4 inches long, and the Outlander Sport is scarcely smaller at 171.9 inches long. Autocar says the revamp would see the Outlander grow, while the Outlander Sport gets smaller. Based on the comments, if the Outlander gets longer, then we wouldn't be surprised at seeing the Eclipse Cross putting on a few inches, too. The first fruit should blossom next year, and be possible thanks to platform-sharing within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Comparing Mitsubishi to Nissan's formula, the Rogue is 184.5 inches long, the Rogue Sport 172.4 inches. We don't get the Juke any more, which is 162.8 inches long; our Nissan Kicks extends 169.1 inches. The coming range will extend plug-in hybrid and full electric options, too. Naturally, the Outlander PHEV will make the jump to a new generation, and the Eclipse Cross will come in hybrid and PHEV flavors. An updated PHEV powertrain shown in the Engelberg Tourer Concept at the Geneva Motor Show paired a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and two electric motors at the axles, for 44 miles of EV range on the WLTP cycles. That's 16 more EV miles than the current Outlander PHEV can go. The Outlander Sport will get a battery-electric trim. The "senior source" said, "We will not have a unique nameplate, but instead offer the appropriate electrification options for the vehicles and how people will use them." There's likely a lot more in store for the brand, especially in the U.S., although we have no idea what that is. Takao Kato will take over as CEO of Mitsubishi global next month, with the mandate of carrying out the carmaker's "small but beautiful" strategy. The initiative puts steady growth and profit ahead of disruptive leaps. Kato has experience in the U.S., having helped set up the joint manufacturing plant with Chrysler in Illinois in 1988. Even so, he's said of our region, "It's not easy to be in that market," and would only go so far as saying "probably not" when asked if leaving the U.S. is an option.

Japan prosecutors seek 2 years in prison for ex-Nissan exec Greg Kelly

TOKYO — Japanese prosecutors demanded two years in prison for former Nissan executive Greg Kelly and accused him of joining a “conspiracy” to pay his former boss Carlos Ghosn illicitly in closing arguments Wednesday in a yearlong trial. “That unpaid compensation existed is clear,” prosecutor Yukio Kawasaki told the Tokyo District Court, reading briskly from a thick document. Kelly, a 30-year veteran at the Japanese automaker, was living in the U.S. when he was arrested in November 2018 upon returning to Japan to attend a meeting. The first American to be appointed to NissanÂ’s board, Kelly says he is innocent. He sat calmly in the courtroom, wearing his usual red tie and dark suit, alongside defense lawyers. Everyone in the courthouse was wearing a mask because of the pandemic. Kelly told The Associated Press in an interview last month he did not know all the details of GhosnÂ’s pay. He was determined to retain Ghosn, Nissan's former chairman, because of his extraordinary management skills and wanted to pay him in a legal way, he said. Ghosn was arrested at the same time as Kelly and also maintains he is innocent. He skipped bail in late 2019 and fled to Lebanon, the country of his ancestry. It has no extradition treaty with Japan. The charges center around a pay cut of about 1 billion yen ($10 million) a year that Ghosn voluntarily started taking from 2010, halving his pay after disclosure of high executive pay became mandatory in Japan. Nissan Motor officials considered various ways to make up for the money Ghosn gave up, such as paying him consulting fees after retirement. They also mulled other methods such as payments through subsidiaries and stock options. Nothing had been paid at the time of the arrests. The contention is over whether that money should have been reported as compensation as a de facto promised sum under a binding contract, or didnÂ’t need to be disclosed until it was finalized. Ghosn has said a group at Nissan engineered his arrest because they feared that French automaker Renault, which owns 43% of Nissan, would gain more control over the company. Other Nissan officials made similar comments during KellyÂ’s trial. Renault sent Ghosn to Nissan in 1999 to lead its rescue from the brink of bankruptcy. He successfully steered the maker of the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models for nearly two decades.