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Ex-Nissan CEO paid $500K in Bitcoin to escape from Japan

Prosecutors say Carlos Ghosn's son paid $500k in Bitcoin to help his father escape from Japan.

Fri, 24 Jul 2020, 14:43 pm UTC

Carlos Ghosn, the former boss of Japanese carmaker Nissan, shocked the world when he dramatically escaped from house arrest in Japan last year where he was facing charges of financial misconduct. But it now looks like cryptocurrency might have changed hands for the ex-Nissan CEO to pull off the seemingly impossible feat.

In a court filing, U.S. prosecutors claim that Ghosn arranged for a payment of $500,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) to Peter Taylor, one of the two American men who reportedly helped the ex-Nissan boss flee from Japan, according to Cointelegraph. Taylor and his father, ex-Green Beret Michael Taylor, placed Ghosn inside a musical instrument case to smuggle him out of the country on board a private plane.

Prosecutors said that Carlos Ghosn’s son, Anthony Ghosn, paid Peter Taylor in Bitcoins via the crypto platform Coinbase, according to Bloomberg. Taylor and his father received a total of $1.36 million from the Ghosn family. Aside from the cryptocurrency payment worth $500,000 the duo also received funds earlier via wire transfer in the amount of $860,000, according to government records.

Carlos Ghosn previously claimed that his family played no role in his dramatic escape from Japan. However, U.S. and Japanese prosecutors have already gathered evidence that suggests his son and daughter, Maya, might have played some part.

Images from a security camera show that Maya Ghosn met with this father in Tokyo on the day the latter escaped. She was also seen arriving at Taylor’s hotel carrying her father’s luggage.

Since their arrest in May at the request of the Japanese government, the Taylors have been in U.S. custody. Meanwhile, Ghosn is free in Lebanon at the moment as the country does not have an extradition agreement with Japan. No one in Ghosn’s family has been charged.

The cryptocurrency transfers with a total amount of $500,000 in Bitcoins were made in installments from January to May. Investigations also reveal that the earlier wire transfer of $860,000 was sent to Peter Taylor’s company.

The Taylors have not denied their involvement with Ghosn’s escape from Japan. However, their lawyers argue that Japan did not accuse the Taylors with an offense serious enough to warrant extradition.

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