Turkish court jails three in Nissan boss Ghosn escape trial

An Turkish court on Wednesday handed down jail terms to three suspects accused of aiding formNissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee from Japan to Lebanon via Istanbul, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported.

The director of a private jet company, Okan Kösemen, and pilots Noyan Pasin and Bahri Kutlu Sömek were sentenced to years and two months in prison each on charges of migrant smuggling, the newspaper said.

The three were also fined 31,240 liras ($4,300) each.

Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades and salvaged the Japanese automaker from the brink of collapse, is accused of siphoning off millions of dollars in cash from the company for his own personal gain. Japanese prosecutors have charged the former CEO, who fled the country while under house arrest, with aggravated breach of trust.

The former Nissan CEO arrived in Lebanon’s capital Beirut in December on a business jet from Istanbul Atatürk Airport. Two flights of two private jets from Osaka to Atatürk Airport and then Beirut were examined as part of the investigation into Ghosn’s escape from Japan.

Three other Turkish national suspects in the case were acquitted, Cumhuriyet said.