Carlos Ghosn, the former chief of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, unexpectedly left Japan, where he faces trial on charges of financial wrongdoing, and traveled to his homeland of Lebanon.

Mr. Ghosn’s flight to a country that in 2017 put his image on a postage stamp marked a striking new development in a drama that has seen one of the world’s most prominent businessmen—an automobile executive accustomed to living between private jets and luxury residences—charged with crimes and forced to serve months in a Japanese jail cell.

Now he appears to have turned himself into a celebrity fugitive.

“I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed,” Mr. Ghosn said in a statement. “I have not fled justice—I have escaped injustice and political persecution,” he added.

He said he looked forward to communicating with the media next week.

While Mr. Ghosn had been released from detention and was living in a house in Tokyo, he was required to stay in the country pending his trial, expected next year. It wasn’t clear how he was able to leave Japan; a person familiar with the matter said he arrived in Lebanon via Turkey. Lebanon’s criminal code prohibits extradition of its citizens, making it unlikely Mr. Ghosn can be forced to return to Japan if he stays in the country.

Since his arrest just over a year ago, Mr. Ghosn has remained defiant, denying the allegations against him as part of a plot by disgruntled Nissan executives and saying Japanese authorities have treated him inhumanely. He gave up leadership of Renault and was stripped of his role at Nissan, and their ties have been strained in his absence.

Prosecutors couldn’t be reached for comment on Tuesday, but officials had said Mr. Ghosn would receive a fair trial.

Mr. Ghosn’s lawyer in Japan, Junichiro Hironaka, said he learned about his client’s sudden departure from the news and was completely surprised by it. Mr. Hironaka said he last saw Mr. Ghosn on Dec. 25 and had been preparing to meet again in January to discuss pretrial proceedings.

The lawyer said he still had possession of Mr. Ghosn’s passports from Lebanon, Brazil and France and suggested it might have taken a “big organization” to arrange Mr. Ghosn’s departure. He didn’t elaborate.

Born in Brazil to Lebanese parents, Mr. Ghosn grew up in Lebanon from an early age. He still has friends and family there, as well as personal and business interests, including a vineyard he owns. His current wife and former wife are both from Lebanon.

While the Lebanese government has been among Mr. Ghosn’s most vocal defenders, that support has been tested by the accusations that he misappropriated company funds, said a person who acted as Mr. Ghosn’s intermediary with Lebanese authorities.

Competing narratives have  emerged on Mr. Ghosn’s arrest: Nissan and Japanese prosecutors accuse him of diverting company resources to pay for a lavish lifestyle. His allies have argued that Mr. Ghosn had been set up by Nissan executives opposed to his plans to deepen their company’s alliance with France’s Renault.

Meanwhile, his arrest has thrown the car-making alliance he forged—one of the world’s largest—into disarray.

Mr. Ghosn faces up to 15 years in prison over three sets of charges, as well as long odds in his trial in Japan, where more than 99% of those indicted for a crime are convicted, according to official statistics. In addition, even if he managed to win a not-guilty verdict at trial, the appeals process through the Supreme Court could take years and result in a reversal to a guilty verdict. People involved in the defense have expected his trial to begin as soon as April 2020.

Leaving Japan without permission could result in Mr. Ghosn’s forfeiting a total of ¥1.5 billion ($13.8 million) he paid in bail.

Mr. Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo on Nov. 19, 2018, after arriving there on a private jet from Beirut, where he lived in a rose-colored mansion that Nissan had bought and renovated for his use.

He spent more than four months in jail over two stints before the court ordered his release on bail on April 25, 2019. He had been living in Tokyo since then. Prosecutors had argued that he should stay in jail pending trial, citing flight risk among the reasons.

The former automobile executive was charged with causing Nissan to fail to report more than $80 million in planned future income on the company’s financial statements. He was also charged with directing $14.7 million in Nissan funds to a Saudi friend and Nissan business partner who helped him with a personal financial problem, and with diverting $5 million sent by Nissan to an Omani distributor for his own use.

Mr. Ghosn said he was innocent of all the charges. He said he discussed ways to receive postretirement pay but that nothing was ever decided and it didn’t have to be reported. He said Nissan’s payments to the Saudi and Omani business partners were for legitimate business purposes, not his personal benefit.

Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly has also been charged by Tokyo prosecutors with helping conceal Mr. Ghosn’s pay. Mr. Kelly, who doesn’t face other charges, has said he is innocent. He was freed on bail in December 2018 and has been living in Tokyo awaiting trial. Greg Kelly’s U.S. lawyer, Aubrey Harwell, said Mr. Kelly had no knowledge of Mr. Ghosn’s plans.

While Mr. Ghosn awaited trial, his life in Tokyo revolved around visits to his lawyer’s office, where he could use a computer connected to the internet. He was going to the gym regularly and had been watching a Netflix series, according to a person who has visited Mr. Ghosn.

As a condition of his release, the court ordered Mr. Ghosn to avoid contact with his wife, Carole Ghosn. The court allowed a one-hour video call in November, after approving a list of discussion topics. Mr. Ghosn hasn’t spoken to his son, Anthony, since his release on bail, because the bail terms contain broad restrictions against contacting people connected to the criminal charges. Neither has been charged and both deny wrongdoing.

Mr. Ghosn had become increasingly concerned about the restrictions placed on his activities, including his ability to prepare for his coming trial, according to people familiar with his thinking. At restaurants, Mr. Ghosn would suspect people who passed his table more than once of spying on him, said a person who has dined with him since his release. The same would be true of people walking in front of his house in Tokyo, this person said.

 

Compiled by Olalekan Adeleye

Wall Street Journal