Carlos Ghosn leaves the Tokyo Detention Center in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2019. /AP Photo
Former Nissan and Renault boss Carlos Ghosn began his astonishing escape from Japan with a bullet train ride from Tokyo to Osaka, possibly accompanied by several people, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported Monday.
Japanese authorities also said on Monday they may still press for Ghosn's extradition from Lebanon to face multiple charges of financial wrongdoing, even though the country does not normally extradite its nationals.
Security cameras captured Ghosn leaving his home on December 29 at about 2:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) and arriving some hours later at Tokyo's Shinagawa Station, where he took the train to Shin Osaka Station, Kyodo said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The international fugitive was reported to go by car to a hotel near Osaka's Kansai International Airport, where he boarded a private jet at 11:10 p.m..
A private security guard stands outside of the house of ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn in Beirut, Lebanon, January 6, 2020. /AP Photo
Ghosn was forbidden from leaving Japan while awaiting trial on charges of financial misconduct, which he has denied, but he fled at the end of last year to escape what he called a "rigged" justice system.
Prosecutors are now working with police to piece together Ghosn's route and find out who helped him in the escape, Kyodo said.
In the government's first briefing since Ghosn skipped bail, Justice Minister Masako Mori said on Monday that as a general principle, Tokyo could request the extradition of a suspect from a country with which it has no formal extradition agreement.
Such a request would need to be carefully examined based on the possibility of "guaranteeing reciprocity and the domestic law of the partner country", said Mori.
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