The story had gone around the world at the end of December 2019: the ex-CEO of Renault-Nissan, who was awaiting his trial under house arrest in Japan, had confirmed that he was in Lebanon, after having fled the country by plane, hidden in a large box of audio equipment to avoid checks at the airport. An incredible escape on which Carlos Ghosn, 67, returned with our special correspondent journalists in Beirut, Lebanon, where the ex-leader still lives.
“It was a very risky operation,” admits the ex-car magnate. “I practically decided on all the details. We ruled out the option of going out by sea, because between the time you leave a port and you arrive, there can be an intervention. “For the escape by plane, Carlos Ghosn reveals that he had the choice between two options: that, which we know, of the cash register, and that of disguising himself as a member of the crew. “I decided, luckily it went well. In a fund, you have no interest in showing up, because you are being manipulated, you are in an airport. »
In November 2018, the man who was still CEO of Renault, president of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors and head of the alliance between the three automotive groups, was arrested after landing in Tokyo, then charged for not having declared income that Nissan had to pay him later and aggravated breach of trust. The Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian, who had been stuck in Japan on bail since April 2019 pending trial, has always maintained his innocence all along the line and denounced a plot at Nissan to bring him down, in fear of a project of closer union with Renault.