Carlos Ghosn has lived in Lebanon since fleeing Japan hidden in a box in December 2019, and he is now on trial in Paris in his absence. The corruption case opened on 16 September 2026 and runs to 28 September. Lebanon does not extradite its own citizens.
How Carlos Ghosn Went From Chairman to Fugitive
Ghosn ran Nissan, Renault and the alliance binding them to Mitsubishi Motors until Japanese prosecutors arrested him at a Tokyo airport on 19 November 2018.
The companies dropped him within weeks. Nissan’s board dismissed him as chairman on 22 November 2018, Mitsubishi Motors removed him on 26 November 2018, and he resigned from Renault on 24 January 2019.
Japanese prosecutors indicted him on 10 December 2018 over deferred compensation they said he had failed to declare across several years. He was re-arrested on 21 December 2018 over an allegation that he had shifted $16.6 million of personal investment losses onto Nissan, indicted again on 11 January 2019 for aggravated breach of trust, and arrested a fourth time on 4 April 2019 over payments involving an Omani distributor. He denied every charge and said he was the target of a boardroom plot to remove him.
On the night of 29–30 December 2019, while on bail and awaiting trial, he left Japan concealed in an equipment case loaded onto a private jet. He surfaced in Beirut, where he holds citizenship. A Tokyo court revoked his bail, and he has not returned.
The Four Legal Fronts at a Glance
| Jurisdiction | What it concerns | Status as of 17 September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | Financial misconduct charges brought in 2018 and 2019 | Charges outstanding, never tested at trial; Interpol red notice in force |
| France | Alleged corruption and influence-peddling over €900,000 paid to Rachida Dati | On trial in absentia in Paris from 16 to 28 September 2026 |
| British Virgin Islands | Nissan’s civil claim over a superyacht and diverted company funds | Judgment entered against him in August 2024, with $32 million in damages |
| Lebanon | His own claim against Nissan, and a dispute over his Beirut home | Claim filed in May 2023; a 2023 eviction order was frozen on appeal |
What Is Carlos Ghosn on Trial for in Paris?
He is charged with active corruption and influence-peddling over €900,000 paid to Rachida Dati, the French politician and former justice minister.
The trial opened before the Paris criminal court on 16 September 2026 and is listed for six half-day sessions running to 28 September. Prosecutors say the money reached Dati from RNBV, a Dutch subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan alliance, between 2009 and 2013, while she was a member of the European Parliament. They argue that a legal services contract signed in 2009 concealed lobbying work and that the fee was, in their words, “totally disproportionate” to the services documented.
Dati faces charges of passive corruption, passive influence-peddling, and concealment of abuse of power and breach of trust. She says she carried out genuine legal work and denies lobbying in the European Parliament. She faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of €450,000 and a possible ban from public office, and remains presumed innocent.
Ghosn is being tried in absentia. He wrote to the court asking for a postponement, arguing that he had not been properly served, and offered to take part by videoconference. No verdict had been reached when the trial opened.
France has been pursuing him separately since April 2022, when authorities issued an international arrest warrant over Renault funds alleged to have been routed through an Omani car distributor.
Why Japan Has Never Put Him on Trial
Japan and Lebanon have no extradition treaty, and Lebanon does not hand over its own citizens.
That single fact has frozen the Japanese case since the day he landed in Beirut. The charges remain on file, an Interpol red notice remains in force, and neither has moved him an inch. Speaking in December 2024, Ghosn said Japanese prosecutors had refused to pass their case files to Lebanon, adding: “I can understand they don’t want to transmit it because they know the whole thing is fake.”
The people who got him out did face Japanese courts. Michael Taylor, a former United States special forces soldier, and his son Peter Taylor were sentenced in Tokyo in July 2021 to two years and 20 months respectively for helping to organise the escape. Both were transferred to United States custody in October 2022. Prosecutors said Ghosn paid them more than $1 million.
The Money Fights Between Ghosn and Nissan
Ghosn and his former employer have been suing each other across three countries since 2020, and only one of those cases has produced a judgment.
The Yacht and the $32 Million Judgment
In August 2024 the High Court of the British Virgin Islands, sitting as part of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, ruled against Ghosn in a civil claim brought by Nissan. Judge Gerhard Wallbank found that he had dishonestly breached his duties of loyalty and honesty by misappropriating money from a discretionary business development fund controlled by Nissan’s chief executive.
The court ordered $32 million in damages to Nissan and Nissan Middle East, and a further $13.665 million from a company called Beauty Yachts. It also declared that the 37-metre yacht Shachou, later renamed The Twig, was held on trust for Nissan. The name means “the boss” in Japanese.
The judgment carries an important qualification: the defendants had been debarred from defending the claim in October 2023 for failing to comply with court directions, and did not appear at the trial. It is a civil ruling on assets, not a criminal conviction. Nissan had separately sued him in Yokohama in February 2020 for about $90 million.
Ghosn’s $1 Billion Counter-Claim
On 18 May 2023 Ghosn filed a claim of more than $1 billion with Lebanon’s public prosecutor against Nissan, two other companies and 12 named individuals, alleging defamation, slander, libel and the fabrication of evidence. The claim seeks $588 million in lost pay and $500 million in moral damages. Unlike the founder of Evergrande, who was jailed for life after that company’s collapse, Ghosn has never been convicted of a crime in any jurisdiction.
Can Carlos Ghosn Ever Leave Lebanon?
Not without risking arrest. He holds Lebanese, French and Brazilian nationality, but an Interpol red notice and a Lebanese travel ban keep him inside the country.
Lebanon’s then prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, imposed the travel ban on 9 January 2020, days after Ghosn arrived. Lebanese citizenship shields him from being sent to Japan; it does not let him fly anywhere that would act on the red notice. He described himself in December 2024 as “blocked in Lebanon”, and said: “I will be here for a while … but I have hope that one day I will be able to travel in the world.”
His living arrangements have also been contested. A Lebanese court ordered him in October 2023 to leave the Achrafieh house in Beirut he had occupied since the escape, after an investment company linked to Nissan said he had no right to it. An appeal court froze that order pending the outcome of the wider dispute.
Where Things Stand in September 2026
As of 17 September 2026, Carlos Ghosn is in Beirut, subject to a travel ban, and being tried in his absence by a court in Paris.
He is nearly seven years into life in Lebanon and has spent that time giving interviews, writing about the case and pressing his own claims rather than answering the Japanese charges. In April 2025 he was still commenting publicly on Lebanese politics, telling an interviewer the country was “better than a few months ago – but change must be fast”.
The Paris trial is the first time since 2018 that a court has examined allegations against him with him formally on trial, even though he is not in the room. A verdict is expected after the hearings close on 28 September 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Did Carlos Ghosn Escape From Japan?
He was smuggled out on the night of 29–30 December 2019 inside a case of the kind used for audio equipment, loaded as cargo onto a private jet that flew from Osaka to Istanbul and then to Beirut. He was on bail in Tokyo at the time and awaiting trial.
What Happened to the Men Who Helped Him Escape?
Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor were extradited from the United States to Japan, and a Tokyo court sentenced them in July 2021 to two years and 20 months in prison respectively. Both were transferred back into United States custody in October 2022.
Has Carlos Ghosn Been Convicted of Anything?
No. He has never stood trial in Japan, the Paris trial that opened on 16 September 2026 has not returned a verdict, and the August 2024 ruling in the British Virgin Islands was a civil judgment over assets rather than a criminal conviction. He denies all the allegations against him.
What Nationalities Does Carlos Ghosn Hold?
Lebanese, French and Brazilian. The Lebanese citizenship is what protects him from extradition to Japan, because Lebanon does not surrender its own nationals to foreign courts.
