- Carlos Ghosn met with a Hollywood producer in December while awaiting trial in Japan, the New York Times reported Thursday.
- The talks never progressed into mature phases, the paper said, but the revelation provides an insight into the disgraced executives world-view amid his scandal.
- Little is known about the 65-year-old’s escape to Lebanon, apparently through Turkey, though he shows no signs of willingly surrendering.
- Follow Business Insider’s full coverage of the international fugitive here.
In the months he was holed up in a stark Japanese apartment awaiting trial for charges of financial wrongdoing, disgraced auto executive Carlos Ghosn was plotting to tell his life on the silver screen.
According to The New York Times’ Ben Dooley, the 65-year-old met with John Lesher, a Hollywood producer behind films like Birdman, in December to discuss a movie portraying his own rise to freewheeling international executive, and his fight with “political persecution.”
The talks never progressed beyond preliminary stages, the newspaper reported, but the revelation is yet another insight into the worldview of Ghosn as he faced the fight of his life.
Since his original arrest in November 2018, Ghosn has categorically denied the charges by Japanese authorities, which include misuse of company assets and underreporting of earnings.
While the fugitive reportedly wined-and-dined over the New Year’s holiday, investigators around the world raced to piece together how, exactly, Ghosn made it out of Japan despite constant surveillance and severe restrictions as part of his bail agreement.
In Turkey, where Ghosn is believed to have transited en route to his home country of Lebanon, authorities arrested seven people in conjunction with the escapade, according to local media reports including official state channels. Interpol, the global police force, meanwhile issued a “red notice” calling for his arrest on Thursday.
In a brief statement on Thursday, Ghosn denounced theories that his wife or other family had helped plan and execute his flight.
“There has been speculation in the media that my wife Carole, and other members of my family played a role in my departure from Japan,”he said through a PR firm retained since his escape. “All such speculation is inaccurate and false. I alone arranged for my departure. My family had no role whatsoever.”
More Carlos Ghosn coverage:
- Here are all the bizarre theories surrounding Carlos Ghosn’s international bail-jumping escapade
- Interpol issues a warrant for Carlos Ghosn’s arrest in Lebanon after his bizarre escape from Japan
- How Carlos Ghosn fell from superstar auto executive to international fugitive
- Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Japan is a nightmare for the country’s justice system — and the ousted Nissan exec may now be looking to put that system on trial
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