Ex-Nissan boss had spare French passport: report

TOKYO－Japanese authorities allowed ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn to carry a spare French passport in a locked case while out on bail, public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday, shedding some light on how he managed a dramatic escape to Lebanon.

NHK said in a report that prosecutors on Thursday raided the Tokyo residence of the former chief of Nissan Motor Co and Renault.

Ghosn, one of the world's best-known executives, has become Japan's most famous fugitive after he fled to Lebanon on Tuesday to escape what he called a "rigged" justice system.

The businessman, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, was smuggled out of Tokyo on a private plane by a security company days ago, the culmination of a plan that was crafted over three months.

Ghosn was first arrested in Tokyo in November 2018 and faces four charges－which he denies－including hiding income and enriching himself through payments to car dealerships in the Middle East.

Japanese authorities have not officially commented on Ghosn's disappearance. Government offices are shut this week for the New Year holiday.

Officials in Lebanon also said Ghosn entered the country with a French passport. But one of Ghosn's Japanese lawyers has said the lawyers were still in possession of three of Ghosn's passports－French, Lebanese and Brazilian－under the terms of his bail.

However, Ghosn had been issued a spare French passport, NHK said, citing unidentified sources, and carried it in the months before his departure.

NHK said: "Ghosn had been obliged to carry the passport with him since May, without elaborating on the reason." Foreigners in Japan are required to carry government-issued identification cards or passports at all times.

His lawyers applied to have the terms of his bail changed so that he could carry a passport in a locked case, NHK said. The key to the locked case in which the spare passport was kept was held by his lawyers, NHK said.

On Wednesday, the former Nissan chairman reportedly met with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun and thanked the president for the support given to him while he was in detention.

A lawyer for Ghosn said he will hold a news conference on Jan 8, according to reports. Sources close to him said he was unwilling to share details of his escape so as not to jeopardize those who aided him in Japan.

Agencies