Arrests of 3 Americans sought in Ghosn escape

TOKYO — Japanese prosecutors Thursday issued arrest warrants for three Americans suspected of helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn flee the country, where he was awaiting trial on charges of financial wrongdoing.

Ghosn surprised the world, and embarrassed Japanese authorities, when he slipped out of his home in Tokyo in late December and turned up a day later in Lebanon.

Prosecutors want to arrest Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old former Green Beret; his son, Peter Maxwell Taylor, 26; and George Antoine Zayek, 60. The warrant said they helped Ghosn avoid immigration checks and board a private jet in Osaka that took him to Turkey on the first leg of his escape.

They also issued a new warrant for the arrest of Ghosn, who “illegally left the country” without notifying immigration authorities.

The document was the first official confirmation by Japanese authorities of some of the details of Ghosn’s flight.

According to the warrant, Michael Taylor and Zayek accompanied Ghosn from Tokyo to Osaka, where they hid him in “portable luggage” and helped smuggle him through a private jet terminal and onto a waiting plane where they accompanied him to Istanbul. Ghosn is believed to have hidden in a large black box typically used for transporting audio equipment.

Michael Taylor is a private-security contractor with extensive contacts in Lebanon dating to the 1980s, when he was deployed to Beirut as part of a team of U.S. Special Forces.

Zayek was born in Lebanon and previously worked with Taylor’s Boston-based security company. The arrest warrant was the first public mention of Peter Taylor’s involvement. All three are believed to be American citizens, prosecutors said. Michael and Peter Taylor and Zayek have been in the Middle East since Ghosn’s escape, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The warrants were announced a day after prosecutors raided the Tokyo office of Ghosn’s former lawyer, looking for evidence related to the escape.