A timeline of how Carlos Ghosn fled 24/7 surveillance in Japan, escaped on a private jet, and made it to Lebanon
November 19, 2018: Carlos Ghosn is arrested in Japan, accused of hiding tens of millions of dollars in payments. It would be more than a year until his escape.
Ghosn is first held in jail for months, as officials feared he could flee. They would later be proved right.
March 6, 2019: Ghosn is allowed to leave jail, but was placed under house arrest in Tokyo, with 24/7 surveillance.
Ghosn was told to give up his four passports — two French, one Lebanese, and one Brazilian, to make it harder to flee. But in May 2019 he is allowed to take back a French one.
Japan's courts allowed Ghosn to access the second passport for use inside Japan, Agency France Press (AFP) reported.
An official from the Lebanese foreign ministry told Reuters that Ghosn entered the country legally using the French passport.
Source: Business Insider
October 2019: A private security company started organizing the escape, reports say, with around three months of planning.
According to Imad Ajami, a friend of Ghosn and a Lebanese consultant based in Tokyo, Ghosn's wife Carole helped coordinate the escape.
Ajami, speaking to Japan's Kyodo News, said that two operatives helped Ghosn escape: a former US Marine and a second workers from Lebanon.
Sources close to Ghosn told Reuters that the trigger for his escape was him learning that his trial may be delayed until April 2021.
He is also said to have been frustrated that he was banned from communicating with his wife, and that his internet access was restricted.
(Ghosn has denied that any of his family members played a role.)
Source: Reuters, Hürriyet, Kyodo News
Midday, December 29: Ghosn is reportedly seen on security tape leaving his Tokyo home.
Source: NHK
A conflicting report, from Lebanese news outlet MTV, says Ghosn was smuggled from his home concealed inside a case for a large musical instrument.
MTV reported that a group of men, in the guise of a " music band" were hired to play at a dinner at Ghosn's home, and carried him out when they left.
Ghosn is 5'6".
This part of the story has been contested: Carole Ghosn described it as "fiction" according to Reuters, though she did not offer an alternative explanation..
Source: Guardian, MTV, Business Insider, Sky News
11 p.m., December 29: Ghosn leaves Japan via Osaka's Kansai Airport.
Turkish private aviation company MNG Jet said that its planes carried Ghosn, but that a rogue employee took the jets under false pretenses.
A January 3 statement said: "In December 2019, MNG Jet leased two separate private jets to two different clients."
"One private jet from Dubai to Osaka and Osaka to Istanbul, and another private jet from Istanbul to Beirut. The two leases were seemingly not connected to each other."
MNG said it has filed a criminal complaint against one of its employees who they say helped Ghosn escape Japan without their knowledge..
Source: MNG Jet
5:15 a.m. December 30: The plane carrying Ghosn lands in Istanbul, Turkey, having flown over Russia.
Two of those on board the plane make themselves known to Turkish airport authorities, but Ghosn does not.
Data from the flight-tracking website Flightradar24 shows a private plane leaving Osaka, Japan, and traveling to Istanbul on the day of Ghosn's escape.
Source: Hürriyet
6 a.m.: 45 minutes after landing, Ghosn leaves Istanbul on a second MNG jet bound for Beirut, Lebanon.
Two of those on board the plane made themselves known to Turkish airport authorities, Ghosn does not.
The plane is identified as a long-range business jet with the tail number the TC-TSR.
Source: Hürriyet
Ghosn reportedly used his second French passport and his Lebanese identity card at the border.
Ghosn entered Lebanon legally and therfore will not face any legal action, Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security later said.
Ghosn is then thought to have travelled to his home in Ashrafieh, central Beirut.
Source: Times of London
Later on December 30, Ghosn reportedly meets with Lebanese president Michel Aoun.
A source told Reuters that Ghosn was in a "buoyant and combative mood" when he left the meeting, and that he "felt secure."
The source said that Ghosn "thanked Aoun for the support he had given him and his wife" and asked for "the protection and security of his government."
A spokesman for the president denied to Reuters that the meeting happened.
Source: Reuters
December 31: Ghosn confirms his escape and attacks the "rigged Japanese justice system."
Late on December 31, the Tokyo district court revokes Ghosn's bail agreement, meaning he will forfeit the $14 million paid so far.
Source: The Mainichi
Ghosn's lawyer in Japan says later that day that he is "surprised and baffled" at his client's escape.
Source: The Times of London
Back in Beirut, TV crews start to surround Ghosn's house.
That night, Ghosn is seen celebrating New Years Eve with his family in a photo published by French broadcaster TF1.
Source: TF1
January 2: Turkish authorities detain four pilots and three workers at Ataturk Airport in over Ghosn's escape.
Source: Business Insider
Back in Japan, prosecutors raid his Tokyo home for evidence.
Prosecutors took security cameras down from the walls and took personal belongings.
Source: Nikkei
Also on January 2, Lebanon receives an Interpol "Red Notice" asking for Ghosn's arrest.
A is a request for local law enforcement to hand over a suspect. It is not legally binding.
Source: Business Insider
That evening, Lebanon's Justice Minister Albert Serhan says Lebanon does not plan to extradite Ghosn.
Source: The Associated Press
Lebanese media report that Ghosn is to give a press conference in Beirut on January 8.
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