Adeyinka Olaiya, Editor at Large, Sao Paulo/
A Brazilian-Lebanese businessman and former President of Renault-Nissan who has been declared wanted for alleged fraud by the International Police (INTERPOL) in Japan is claiming Nigerian nationality.
Carlos Ghosn, who has been accused of money laundering and tax evasion, recently escaped from prison in Japan to Lebanon. He was born in Brazil to a Lebanese father, Jorge Ghosn, and a Nigerian-born Lebanese mother, Rose Zetta Jazzar.
Rose Zetta Jazzar, the mother of Carlos Ghosn was born in Nigeria to a Lebanese family, she later migrated to Brazil where she met and married Jorge Ghosn, the father of Carlos Ghosn.
Carlos who was arrested and imprisoned in Japan for allegedly masterminding several criminal and fraudulent acts is said to be having four different nationalities, Brazil, France, Lebanon and Nigeria. He is a Brazilian by birth and obtained the French citizenship after he studied, lived and worked for several years in France; the Lebanese and the Nigerian citizenships were obtained based on the parental links, the mother being Nigerian by birth and the grandparents being Lebanese immigrants.
This much was posted on his Wikipedia page.
The ex-automobile executive allegedly escaped to Lebanon through a chattered private jet from Japan with the participation of five Turkish pilots suspected to have smuggled him through Istanbul. The five Turkish men have since been arrested and detained by the local police for interrogations.
Carlos Ghosn who was the head at the functional and directive operations of the Renault -Nissan in France before becoming the overall director of business activities and strategies of the French automobile company in Europe and Asia has since been welcomed by the president of Lebanon who claimed not to have any extraditing accord with Japan.
“I planned my escape without anybody’s support. I ran from injustice in Japan. I did not run from justice but from injustice. Japan is not doing it the right way, so I fled,” Carlos announced in a statement.
Earlier today, in his first public appearance since his escape, Ghosn also denounced his arrest as part of a plot to oust him from power, while blasting Japan’s legal system as stacked against defendants.
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