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Judge denies bail for men accused of sneaking Carlos Ghosn out of Japan

BOSTON — Two American men wanted by Japan on charges that they helped sneak former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of the country in a box have again been denied release from a U.S. jail. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on Friday rejected a bid to free Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, and his 27-year-old son, Peter Taylor, on bail while they fight their extradition to Japan. Talwani said a magistrate judge properly found the two men to be a risk of flight. “While the Taylors may well seek to remain in the United States to fight extradition through available legal channels, they have also shown a blatant disregard for such safeguards in the context of the Japanese legal system and have not established sufficiently that if they find their extradition fight difficult, they will not flaunt the rules of release on bail and flee the country,” Talwani wrote. An attorney for the Taylors declined to comment Saturday. Their lawyers have said the men have no plans to flee and argue their health is at risk behind bars because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Taylors have been locked up in a Massachusetts jail since their arrest in May. Authorities say the Taylors helped smuggle Ghosn out of the Japan on a private jet while he was on bail and awaiting trial on financial misconduct allegations. With former the Nissan boss hidden in a large box, the flight went first to Turkey, then to Lebanon, where Ghosn has citizenship but which has no extradition treaty with Japan. Ghosn said he fled because he could not expect a fair trial, was subjected to unfair conditions in detention and was barred from meeting his wife under his bail conditions. Ghosn has denied allegations that he underreported his future income and committed a breach of trust by diverting Nissan money for his personal gain. The Taylors have not denied helping Ghosn flee, but argue they can't be extradited. Among other things, they say that “bail jumping” is not a crime in Japan and, therefore, helping someone evade their bail conditions isnÂ’t a crime either. In a court filing on Friday, federal prosecutors urged Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell to rule that the men can be legally extradited. The U.S. Secretary of State will make the final decision on whether they will be handed over to Japan.

Feds arrest two men accused of smuggling Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box

Authorities say this Dec. 30, 2019, image from security camera video shows Michael Taylor, center, and George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey. Taylor, a former Green Beret and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box in December 2019, while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. / Getty Images   WASHINGTON — A former Green Beret and his son were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret and private security specialist, and Peter Taylor, 27, are wanted by Japan on charges they helped Ghosn escape the country in December after he was released on bail. The men were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Harvard and were expected to appear before a judge via videoconference later Wednesday. The tale of the daring escape began on Dec. 28, 2019, when Peter Taylor arrived in Japan and met with Ghosn at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo for about an hour, authorities said. Just before 10 a.m. the next day, Michael Taylor flew into Osaka, Japan, on a chartered Bombardier Global Express jet from Dubai with another man, George-Antoine Zayek, carrying two large black boxes with them. The elder Taylor was experienced with sticky situations. Over the years, he has been hired by parents to rescue abducted children, gone undercover for the FBI in a sting on a Massachusetts drug gang and worked as a contractor for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last assignment had landed him in a Utah jail for 14 months, caught in a federal contract fraud case that upended TaylorÂ’s family and finances before he agreed to plead guilty to two charges. It's not clear yet how Ghosn hooked up with Taylor. At their arrival, Taylor and Zayek, his Lebanese-born colleague, told airport employees they were musicians carrying audio equipment. Meanwhile, Ghosn, who was out of custody on a hefty bail, headed to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and met up with Peter Taylor in his hotel room, authorities said. The elder Taylor and Zayek joined after a brief stop to rent a separate room near the airport. And soon after their arrival, the group left the Grand Hyatt and split up.

Nissan itself will be indicted alongside Ghosn, report says

Prosecutors in Tokyo are expected to file charges against Nissan itself alongside an expected indictment against former Chairman Carlos Ghosn as part of the ongoing financial misconduct case. That's according to a report from Japan's Nikkei business daily, which does not identify its sources. Charges are also likely against Greg Kelly, a member of Nissan's board of directors who was taken into custody with Ghosn Nov. 19 after Japanese authorities questioned the former chairman aboard a corporate jet at the Tokyo Haneda airport. Monday is the deadline when prosecutors must either indict the two executives, release them or arrest them on new allegations. Both men are accused of under-reporting salaries in five annual reports that stretch through the fiscal year that ended in March 2015. The Nikkei says they'll also be arrested on new allegations of misstating financial information for the subsequent three business years. Nissan would be charged for not preventing the alleged crime. Both men have reportedly denied the allegations. In response to the Nikkei report, a spokesman for Nissan told Automotive News the company had "identified serious misconduct related to the reporting of Mr. Ghosn's compensation" and was cooperating with investors. The turmoil over Ghosn prompted the automaker to scrap plans to unveil a long-awaited longer-range Leaf electric car at the L.A. Auto Show last week. Ghosn is accused of conspiring to understate his income by about half the 10 billion yen (about $88 million) over the period. Reports say the issue relates to deferred compensation that Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa reportedly signed off on but may not have understood. The company didn't report the deferred compensation in Japanese securities filings as it is required, since the money is considered a future liability against the company. Automotive News cites an unnamed source who says Nissan has identified some $80 million in unreported deferred compensation promised to Ghosn. Nissan's board voted Nov. 22 to oust him as chairman, and Mitsubishi followed suit days later. Ghosn remains the CEO and chairman of Renault, however. Under Ghosn's guidance, Nissan and Renault joined forces in 1999 when Nissan was teetering toward bankruptcy. Mitsubishi joined on in 2016, with all three members able to jointly develop products and control costs. He had reportedly been pushing for deeper ties, including a possible merger between Nissan and Renault at the urging of the French government.