Massachusetts federal judge OKs extradition of alleged Carlos Ghosn accomplices

A federal judge in Boston has ruled that the feds can extradite the two men accused of smuggling the criminally charged Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. District Court downtown the issued a ruling approving the extradition of Michael Taylor, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, and his son Peter Taylor, but the final decision rests with the State Department.

The Taylors are wanted by Japan so they can be tried on charges that they helped Ghosn flee the country last year. Japanese authorities claim they tucked the disgraced former Nissan boss in a box on a private jet. The flight went first to Turkey, then to Lebanon, where Ghosn has citizenship — and which has no extradition treaty with Japan.

Ghosn said he fled because he could not expect a fair trial, was subjected to unfair conditions in detention and was barred from meeting his wife under his bail conditions. Ghosn has denied allegations that he underreported his income and committed a breach of trust by diverting Nissan money for his personal gain, as prosecutors in Japan allege.

Bank records show Ghosn wired more than $860,000 to a company linked to Peter Taylor in October 2019, prosecutors said in court documents. Ghosn’s son also made cryptocurrency payments totaling about $500,000 to Peter Taylor in the first five months of this year, according to authorities.

The Taylors have been locked up in a Massachusetts jail since they were arrested in May. Their attorneys never denied the allegations, but argued they can’t be extradited because they say their actions don’t fit under the law with which Japan is trying to convict them.

The judge ultimately disagreed, writing, “the prevailing view is that the extradition court should defer to the foreign country’s interpretation of its own laws” — adding that the Japanese government, having issued multiple warrants for their arrest, seems to have its mind made up.

A lawyer for the men said their defense team had hoped the court would not have just deferred to Japan’s extradition request, and said they looked forward to presenting their arguments to officials at the State Department, which the judge said has to make its ruling in the next week.

— Herald wire services contributed to this report.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3lUaSyL