TOKYO — Japan is seeking an Interpol “Red Notice” for Carole Ghosn, the wife of Carlos Ghosn, the latest move by the country to put pressure on the former auto executive after his surprise escape from trial.
Investigators have asked Interpol for the notice, which could restrict Carole Ghosn’s movements outside of Lebanon, where she joined her husband, national broadcaster NHK reported, citing unidentified sources.
Representatives for Japan’s Ministry of Justice and prosecutors declined to comment on the report. Interpol didn’t respond to a request seeking comment.
Interpol has already issued a Red Notice for Carlos Ghosn at the request of the Japanese government. If one is granted for Carole, it would make it difficult for her to leave the Lebanon, although, as Interpol stresses, “a Red Notice is an international wanted persons notice, but it is not an arrest warrant.”
Ghosn, the former chairman of Renault and Nissan, made his way to Beirut at the end of December after fleeing Japan to escape what he called the country’s “hostage” legal system. He is accused of financial misconduct by Japanese prosecutors, charges he has consistently rejected since his November 2018 arrest.
Prosecutors in Japan had issued a warrant for Carole’s arrest earlier this week, saying that she gave false testimony in court last April. That means she could be arrested if she returns to Japan.
Ghosn had been barred from meeting his wife while he was on bail in Japan, because authorities believed she had been aiding him in covering up for his crimes. That was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” in his decision to flee, Ghosn told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
Ghosn’s family views the arrest warrant as an effort to intimidate him, according to a person close to the family who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. Carole was truthful in her testimony, the person said. Ghosn was re-arrested in Japan in early April just after announcing plans to speak to journalists there.
After jumping bail and fleeing Tokyo to the Lebanon in a daring escape, Ghosn angered Japan’s justice department and its prosecutors when he gave a press conference in Beirut on Wednesday during which he claimed he would not get a fair trial in Japan.
The Ghosns were together when he was arrested last April for the fourth time, during an early morning raid into their apartment. Carole has said that her privacy was invaded in the process, with a female prosecutor waiting for her as she exited the shower. Her Lebanese passport and mobile phones were confiscated by the authorities, according to Ghosn’s lawyers.
She left Japan with her U.S. passport, though came back for questioning the same month. Carole is also entangled in the allegations: in one breach of trust charge, Ghosn is accused of moving $5 million from Nissan to a dealership and then into companies including one headed by Carole and controlled by Ghosn. She said in the interview she “knew nothing” about her husband’s business dealings and “has been cleared.”