Carlos Ghosn has been residing in Lebanon for nearly a year, after pulling off his infamous escape from the Japanese judiciary in late 2019. Now, the former Nissan boss is expecting a visit from French criminal investigators.
In an interview with television channel TF1, Ghosn said that French investigators will travel to Lebanon to question him on expenses covered by a Dutch subsidiary of Renault and Nissan Motor Co.
After his arrest in Tokyo in November 2018 for suspected financial misconduct, France’s authorities began looking into Ghosn’s interactions with a car distributor in Oman as well as his spending on trips and events that might have been personal.
The French investigative team is expected to arrive in Beirut in 2021.
“Why should I flee the French judiciary?” Ghosn said during the TV interview on Sunday.
“I will answer the questions that come my way. I have a clear conscience,” he added.
On that note, the fugitive made mention of a proposal that he had accepted from Versailles Palace to use a hall at the former seat of French royalty for free, to celebrate his wife’s 50th birthday.
He said accepting the proposal was “a mistake,” adding, “If I had known everything that would happen and the way it would be perceived, I would never have done it.”
Ghosn, who is starring in a documentary and a mini-series about his life, brushed over his mysterious escape plan from Japan, saying that planning for it took “a few weeks” rather than months.
For now, “I’m forced to stay in Lebanon,” he said.
Seeing that no extradition treaties exist between Lebanon and Japan, the Lebanese-French-Brazilian businessman has found a safe haven in his country of origin.
