The Lebanese Former Chairman and CEO of Nissan Motor, Renault, Mitsubishi Motors, and the Alliance Carlos Ghosn pulled a dramatic stunt as the year of 2019 comes to an end, by fleeing his house arrest in Japan and reaching Lebanon by a private plane from Turkey.
Lebanese officials confirmed that Ghosn has arrived at Beirut International Airport by a private plane from Turkey using his French passport, which is said to be in the possession of his legal team back in Japan.
However, Japan officials, as well as the whole world, are questioning how Ghosn was able to escape the strict Japanese security and the ban they had of him leaving the country.
The Lebanese fallen Chief of one of the biggest global auto-makers is no hero. His escape comes amid a 13-months long rollercoaster battle with the Japanese Law.
He has been accused of many financial misconducts and wrongdoings and was arrested, released, and bailed four times back and forth since November 19, 2018.
According to sources, Ghosn left Japan illegally, amid doubts on how it was done. Some speculations are saying that he was smuggled by a box or that he had boarded a private plane from Japan.
Sources say that even though Carlos Ghosn was under house arrest within Japan, he still had the freedom to move within the borders of the country.
One of his friends reported that Ghosn lately was in a state of constant fear and suspicion, adding that he was afraid that new files will be opened.
The former Nissan Chairman’s legal team was trying to have the case thrown out before the predicted trial said to be next April or September. Ghosn was allowed to use only one phone and one computer that were given to him by the authorities.
According to MTV Lebanon, the Ambassador of Japan in Lebanon was in a social event when he first heard the news.
When MTV reached out to him, he was surprised by the news and said that the Japanese state had no information about the case. A few minutes after, the ambassador left the hall quietly amid overwhelming text messages and calls.
Even though Ghosn only made a brief statement of the incident and said that he is ready to do a press conference within the upcoming days, MTV Lebanon speaks of the story behind the escape in detail.
According to the source, by the time the Japanese ambassador heard the news, Ghosn was already in Lebanon and particularly in the house that belongs to his wife’s parents.
MTV explains that the operation was carried out by a paramilitary group, coinciding with the presence of his wife in the United States. The group entered his home in Tokyo disguised as a musical band and exited after the logical time for a concert had passed.
Japanese authorities did not know at the time that Carlos Ghosn hid in one of the boxes intended for the transfer of musical instruments and then left the country through a local airport.
However, Al Akhbar newspaper reported differently. According to its sources, Al Akhbar says that Ghosn was smuggled in an intelligence operation from Japan, by a private security company.
Lebanese media platforms were not the only theorists behind the “Ghosn’s Escape” operation. Lebanese and International twitter users began coming up with theories of their own.
Under a tweet written by the opinion editor in Buzzfeed News, Tom Gara, about Lebanese news reporting that Ghosn’s escape was done by smuggling him by a box, Tom Gara’s twitter followers reacted to the tweet with their own speculations.
User @RSConyers tweeted: “Somewhere in Japan, a travesty has occurred – a cello is without a case.”
Another user @xecretcode backed the private jet theory saying: “Yes, a private jet in a small secondary airport would avoid luggage security. Perfect!”
User @enlighting questions the strange story in a tweet that says: “A cover story to hide back-channel negotiations? How can someone escape so easily? That too when the person in question is a very high profile individual.”
Lebanese news outlets saying Carlos Ghosn was smuggled out of Japan in a box designed for transporting musical instruments, this story is incredible https://t.co/5hxGBUSZhY
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) December 31, 2019
To which another Twitter user replied: “He had a whole private team plan his gateway. French Secret Service has done a lot more difficult missions.” Quite a hint that France was involved in arranging Ghosn’s escape.
A third user linked the visit of the Japanese Foreign Minister to Lebanon with Ghosn’s escape: “Didn’t the Japanese foreign minister visit Lebanon a week ago, I wonder they came up with some sort of a deal then.”
And answering the question “wouldn’t he have frozen to death in the hold?” Twitter user @edmundedgar suggested with no little irony: “Generally if you have a nice cello or whatever you don’t trust the baggage handlers with it, you buy it its own seat.”
Generally if you have a nice cello or whatever you don't trust the baggage handlers with it, you buy it its own seat
— Edmund Edgar (@edmundedgar) December 31, 2019
Many other users shrugged the Sherlock Holmes theories laughing, and jokes are going around.
However, the reactions that win the “Conspiracy Theory of the Year” prize definitely goes to Lebanese who suggested, semi-sarcastically and semi-seriously, that Carlos Ghosn was smuggled into Lebanon to be assigned as a minister in the next Lebanese government.
Twitter user @nadaker said in a tweet: “Watch him emerge in the new government. Minister of Finance?”
While it is a sarcastic joke, the thought is not absent from many people in Lebanon since the news of Ghosn’s dramatic homecoming took social media by storm.
Yet, again, Lebanon wouldn’t go into a diplomatic conflict with Japan for Ghosn. Or would it?