Lebanon president denies welcoming fugitive Ghosn as Beirut gets Interpol red notice

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has denied welcoming fugitive former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn upon his arrival in the Mediterranean country as Beirut says it has received a red notice from Interpol for the arrest of the auto tycoon.

Ghosn, a 65-year-old Brazilian-born French businessman of Lebanese ancestry, was arrested in Tokyo in November 2018 over several counts of alleged financial misconduct and placed under house arrest on a nine-million-dollar bail.

However, he managed to escape from Japan in mysterious circumstances on Monday and arrived in Lebanon after a short stay in Istanbul.

Earlier in the week, several media outlets reported that Ghosn had been greeted by President Aoun, but a senior presidency official denied that the two men had even met.

“He was not received at the presidency and did not meet the president,” the unnamed official told AFP on Thursday.

The fugitive tycoon flew in from Istanbul on a private jet and has since been reunited with friends and family, reports said.

Ex-Nissan boss flees Japan to Lebanon

Ousted Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn escapes Japan, where he is facing charges of financial misconduct, and arrives in Lebanon.

Interpol issues red notice

Separately on Thursday, Lebanon's judiciary received a red notice from Interpol for Ghosn's arrest, the state-run National News Agency reported.

“The public prosecutor... has received what is known as a red notice from Interpol in the Carlos Ghosn case,” the report quoted Lebanese Justice Minister Albert Sarhan as saying.

An Interpol ‘red notice’, the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant, is a request to police across the world to provisionally arrest a suspect pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.

Lebanon and Japan do not have an extradition agreement, according which Ghosn who holds Lebanese, French and Brazilian nationalities, could be extradited to Japan.

Additionally on Thursday, Turkish police forces arrested seven people, including four pilots, as part of an investigation into how Ghosn managed a dramatic escape to Lebanon through Istanbul.

Ghosn is accused of deferring a portion of his salary until after his retirement and hiding this from shareholders, as well as siphoning off millions of dollars in Nissan cash for his own benefit.

The auto mogul has repeatedly rejected all charges against him, saying he escaped to Lebanon to flee a “rigged” Japanese justice system.

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