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PARIS — Carlos Ghosn, the former chief of Nissan Motor Co. 7201, -0.45% and Renault SA RNO, -0.93% , has fled Japan, where he is facing trial for alleged financial wrongdoing, and arrived Monday in his homeland of Lebanon, according to people familiar with the matter.
While Ghosn had been released from Japanese jail, and was permitted to leave a house in Tokyo designated as his residence, he was required to stay in Japan pending his trial. It couldn’t immediately be learned how Ghosn evaded Japanese authorities.
The former automobile executive, who has denied the charges against him as part of an plot by disgruntled Nissan executives, fled Japan because he doesn’t believe he will get a fair trial there, one of the people familiar with the matter said. He is “tired of being an industrial political hostage,” the person added.
Ghosn is Lebanese and spent much of his youth in the country, where he has family connections as well as personal and business interests. He is expected to hold a press conference there in coming days where he may explain his abrupt departure, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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