Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Two Americans charged with helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan while he was facing accusations of financial misconduct agreed Monday that they took part in a scheme for him to escape the country.
Statements by Michael Taylor and his son, Peter, on the opening day of their trial in Tokyo suggest the pair don't plan to fight charges of assisting a criminal. That carries a possible penalty of up to three years in prison.
Keiji Isaji, one of the attorneys for the Taylors, told The Associated Press after the court session that he wants the trial to "proceed efficiently." He said ending the trial quickly is "in the best interests of his clients." He declined to confirm his team was hoping for a suspended sentence if they are convicted, meaning no time would be served. He stressed the decision was up to the judge.
The Taylors appeared calm as they were led into the courtroom in handcuffs, with ropes tied around their waists.
They said little except to answer the judge's questions, such as "Yes, your honor," and "I hear you well," when asked about simultaneous interpreting relayed through headphones.
Prosecutors read out a statement accusing Michael Taylor, a former Green Beret, and Peter Taylor of arranging to hide Ghosn in a box for musical equipment. It was loaded onto a private jet that flew him from the western city of Osaka to Lebanon via Turkey in December 2019.
Ryozo Kitajima, one of the prosecutors, said Peter Taylor met with Ghosn at a hotel several times in 2019 and introduced Ghosn to his father. He said Peter Taylor also received $562,500 in two transfers to pay for chartering the jet and other expenses. Peter Taylor arranged for Ghosn to change his clothing at a Tokyo hotel. His father and another man, George-Antoine Zayek later accompanied Ghosn to the Osaka airport, Kitajima said.
Zayek has not been arrested.
The prosecutors said bitcoins worth US$500,000 were transferred from Ghosn's son Anthony's account to Peter Taylor in 2020, purportedly to cover the Taylors' defense costs.
After a brief discussion with Chief Judge Hideo Nirei and their defense lawyers, the Taylors agreed there were no mistakes in the statement.
Prosecutors said that during their detention the Taylors had expressed remorse and that the pair had been misled to believe helping someone jump bail was not illegal in Japan. They said Ghosn's wife Carole told them Ghosn was being tortured. The prosecutors quoted the Taylors as saying they were not tortured and were treated in a way that was "fair and professional."
The trial's next session is set for June 29, when prosecutors will continue their questioning.
The Taylors were arrested in Massachusetts last year and extradited to Japan in March. Ghosn has French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship and Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan. The authorities say Ghosn paid the Taylors at least $1.3 million.
Ghosn led Nissan Motor Co. for two decades before his arrest in 2018. He was charged with falsifying securities reports in under-reporting his compensation and of breach of trust in using Nissan money for personal gain. He says he is innocent and says he fled Japan because he did not expect to get a fair trial. More than 99% of criminal cases in Japan result in convictions.
Peter Taylor told a Massachusetts court in January that he met Ghosn in 2019 in Japan to pitch his digital marketing company to help repair Ghosn's tarnished reputation. He said Ghosn asked him to bring him gifts, food and DVDs from his wife, and to deliver gifts, including to relatives in Lebanon.
Peter Taylor said he left Japan for Shanghai on Dec. 29, 2019, and was not in Japan when Ghosn is accused of fleeing. He denied he was in touch with his father at that time, court documents say.
No Japanese executives have been charged in the scandal at Nissan, Yokohama-based manufacturer of the Leaf electric car, March subcompact and Infiniti luxury models.
Extraditions between Japan and the U.S. are relatively rare, even for serious crimes. The possible penalty of three years in prison is the minimum required for an extradition.
Separately, the same court is trying another American, Greg Kelly, a former Nissan executive vice president, on charges he under-reported Ghosn's compensation. That trial began in September.
Kelly's trial has focused on whether reporting of deferred compensation for Ghosn may have violated the law. Several other senior executives at Nissan, including some non-Japanese, were aware of the arrangements.
Kelly says he is innocent and was only looking for lawful ways to pay Ghosn more to prevent him from leaving for a rival automaker.
Before his arrest, Ghosn was an auto industry star, having orchestrated Nissan's rebound from the brink of bankruptcy after he was sent to Japan by its French alliance partner Renault in 1999.
Ghosn's pay was halved, by about 1 billion yen ($10 million), in 2010 when Japan began requiring disclosure of high executive pay.
The concern was that his relatively high compensation might be viewed unfavorably since Japanese top executives tend to draw lower pay packages than their peers in other countries.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.