London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 24, 2026

Fugitive ex-Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn says he fled Japan to escape 'injustice'

Carlos Ghosn, the ousted chairman of Japanese automaker Nissan, said in a statement on Tuesday that he’s left Japan and is now in Lebanon.

Ghosn was awaiting trial on criminal charges in Japan.

Ghosn entered Lebanon legally and will not face any legal consequences, Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security said on Tuesday, according to the state news agency NNA.

Under house arrest and 24-hour surveillance, ousted Nissan chairman became an international fugitive when he reportedly hid inside a large musical instrument case Sunday and smuggled himself out of Japan to flee criminal prosecution there.

Ghosn’s wife, Carole, whom he hasn’t seen since his arrest more than a year ago, orchestrated his dramatic escape, according to The Guardian. He was aided by a band of Gregorian musicians, who were hired to perform at a dinner party at his home in Tokyo, and a team of former special forces officers, the paper reported, citing Lebanese TV news channel MTV for some of the details.

After the performance, Ghosn tucked himself inside one of the cases, which was transported to a small local airport, where a private plane took him to Istanbul, Turkey, the British paper reported. The Guardian said he appears to have boarded a Bombardier Challenger private jet bound for Lebanon, where he arrived before dawn on Monday.

The Brazil-born auto titan was raised in Beirut and is a citizen of Brazil, France and Lebanon. As a citizen, he’s protected from extradition from Lebanon. Local authorities said he legally entered the country and wouldn’t face any repercussions, according to local media reports.

Ghosn was a giant in the auto industry. A dynamic executive credited with turning around the Japanese manufacturer, Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 and charged with multiple financial misdeeds while running Nissan. He and his wife have maintained his innocence and fought for his release from the Japanese justice system over the past year.

“I have not fled justice - I have escaped injustice and political persecution. I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week,” Ghosn said in a statement confirming his arrival in Lebanon.

He said he will “no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied, in flagrant disregard of Japan’s legal obligations under international law and treaties it is bound to uphold.”

Ghosn’s lead attorney in Japan, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters that he was “surprised and baffled” by his client’s escape, the Financial Times reported.

Hironaka said his legal team still held all of Ghosn’s passports and last saw him on Christmas Day with an agreement to meet Jan. 7 to discuss his upcoming trial, according to the Financial Times.

“If this [escape] is true, we have to assume that this is a breach of bail conditions,” Hironaka said. “His act is unforgivable and a betrayal of Japan’s justice system.”

Japan’s Ministry of Justice didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment on Ghosn’s statement.

Lebanese media said that Ghosn arrived in the country by private jet from Turkey and the newspaper Annahar reported that caretaker State Minister Salim Jreissati said he entered with a French passport, according to Bloomberg.

Financial Times editor Lionel Barber tweeted on Tuesday that “Beirut sources saying [Ghosn] hid in a box designed for a musical instrument.”


The last time Carole Ghosn saw her husband was the day of his second arrest in April when a team of 20 Japanese prosecutors stormed the couple’s apartment in Tokyo at 5:50 a.m. and hauled him away.

“They checked everything. They took pictures of everything,”

Carole Ghosn later told CNBC in September that the upcoming criminal trial in Japan against her husband shows a “dark side” of the nation and bias against foreign executives.

“I think my husband doesn’t look like is going to get a fair trial, the way they are behaving, the way that they are treating him compared to Japanese like [former Nissan CEO Hiroto] Saikawa.”

The former Nissan chairman was ousted and arrested a little over a year ago after Saikawa, who was CEO at the time, accused him and another executive of a litany of financial misdeeds.

Saikawa abruptly resigned in September after an internal investigation found that he also allegedly pocketed excess pay. Nissan accused Ghosn and former Director Greg Kelly of concealing more than $327 million in payments to themselves and other executives -$187 million in nondisclosed compensation and $140 million in improper expenditures, according to a five-page summary of Nissan’s internal investigation released in September.

Ghosn was subsequently removed from his positions at French automaker Renault and the fragile Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance.

Saikawa was allowed to resign in September after an internal investigation found that he received improper payments that weren’t disclosed to shareholders.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Northern Ireland Executive Ministers Reach Consensus on Shared Economic Development Priorities to Stimulate Regional Growth in Belfast
Department for Business and Trade Finalizes Conditional Support Package for Advanced Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities in Newport
Welsh Government Unveils Regional Industrial Development Strategy to Attract Green Energy Investment to South Wales Manufacturing Hubs
Foreign Secretary David Lammy Concludes Diplomatic Mission to European Capital Cities to Strengthen Post-Brexit Defense Cooperation
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Implements Stricter Regulatory Compliance Standards for Water Utilities Across England
Office for National Statistics Reports Moderate Wage Growth Stabilization and Resilient Employment Figures Across the United Kingdom
Scottish Government and Trade Union Representatives Reach Tentative Pay Agreement for Public Sector Transport Workers in Edinburgh
National Health Service England Announces Emergency Capital Funding Allocation to Reduce Winter Emergency Department Bottlenecks
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Signals Cautious Approach to Interest Rate Reductions Amid Persistent Inflation Pressures
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Treasury Officials Finalize Urgent Fiscal Adjustments Ahead of Upcoming National Budget
Tour de France Organizers Confirm Historic Grand Depart Featuring Edinburgh and Yorkshire Stages
National Cyber Security Centre Issues Urgent Alerts Following Global Security Vulnerability in Core Programming Software
Independent Energy Analysts Warn Great Britain Faces Highest Winter Power Tariffs in Europe
Major British Defense Contractors Commit to Delivering Forty Thousand New Apprenticeships and Training Placements
New Bradford Railway Station Infrastructure Project Approved to Transform Regional Transit Connectivity Across Northern England
Welsh Infrastructure Stakeholders Press Government for Accelerated Local Sourcing in Military and Uniform Manufacturing
Scottish Council Governance Crisis Triggers High-Court Legal Challenge Over Leadership Ouster Bid
High Street Bakery Chain Greggs Announces Major Factory Closures and Seven Hundred Job Cuts
Automotive Manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover Advances Advanced Defense Technology Partnership with European Allies
Treasury and Bank of England Officials Signal Persistent Concern Over Inflation-Driven Interest Rate Path
International Monetary Fund Upgrades United Kingdom Growth Forecast While Issuing Inflation Warnings
National Health Service Leaders Warn of Severe Capacity Pressures as Early Winter Respiratory Infections Surge
Government Issues Emergency Resilience Guidance Advising All British Citizens to Stockpile Essential Supplies
United Kingdom Private Sector Growth Beats Expectations in October Driven by Resilient Services and Manufacturing
Barclays to Cut Five Thousand Jobs in Major Artificial Intelligence Adoption and Cost-Cutting Overhaul
Piper Tomahawk Aircraft Crash Near Drymen in Stirling Claims Two Lives as Investigators Deploy
North Sea Transition Authority Approves Jackdaw Gas Field Production After Ministerial Authorization
Government Injects One Hundred and Forty Million Pounds to Expand Urgent Care Ahead of Winter Crisis
Department of Health Warns Further Pay Rises Will Derail National Health Service Waiting List Targets
Major Environmental Emergency Declared in South Wales Following Aerospace Kerosene Spill
Tank Barrel Production Returns to Britain as Defence Contractors Accelerate Domestic Rearmament
Government Approves Controversial Jackdaw Gasfield Development in the North Sea
National Health Service Maternity Safety Review Condemned Over Flawed Artificial Intelligence Integration
Dozens of United Kingdom Government Services Taken Offline Amid Critical Software Vulnerability
Barclays Announces Five Thousand Job Cuts Citing Artificial Intelligence Productivity Gains
Treasury Relaxes Post-Financial Crisis Accountability Rules for City of London Executives
United Kingdom Government Issues Unprecedented Guidance Urging Citizens to Stockpile Essential Supplies
United Kingdom Consumer Inflation Accelerates to Eleven-Month High Driven by Transport Costs
United Kingdom Public Sector Net Debt Breaches Three Trillion Pounds Ahead of Autumn Budget
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Commits Fifty Million Pounds to Establish Regional Artificial Intelligence Innovation Clusters
Ofgem Directs Major Energy Suppliers to Expand Vulnerable Household Support Funds Ahead of Winter Heating Season
Home Office and National Police Chiefs Council Unveil New Intelligence-Led Strategy to Tackle Organised Immigration Crime Networks
First Minister John Swinney Secures Scottish Parliament Approval for Comprehensive Climate and Green Energy Infrastructure Strategy
National Health Service England and Trades Union Congress Finalize Agreement on Emergency Winter Staffing and Pay Frameworks
HM Treasury and Department for Business and Trade Announce Multi-Billion-Pound Sovereign Investment Pact to Spur Regional Advanced Manufacturing
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey Signals Potential for Faster Interest Rate Cuts as Domestic Inflation Pressures Ease Below Forecasts
Parliamentary Inquiry Highlights Urgent Need to Address Housing Shortage as Scottish Completions Hit Eleven-Year Low
United Kingdom and Singapore Sign Comprehensive Financial Agreement to Deepen Digital and Sustainable Market Ties
Greggs Announces Plan to Close Four Manufacturing Facilities and Cut Seven Hundred and Forty Jobs
International Monetary Fund Raises United Kingdom Economic Growth Forecast While Warning of Inflationary Pressures
×