Carlos Ghosn’s lawyer has apologized for advising the former CEO to leave jail wearing a disguise.
After posting nearly $9 million in bail, Ghosn walked out of jail dressed in an orange security belt, a blue cap, glasses and a face mask. He entered a van with a ladder attached to its roof.
The widely-ridiculed plan backfired: It captured more attention than if Ghosn had appeared without a disguise. Japanese tabloids and television mocked the “costume drama.”
“My immature plot has tarnished [Ghosn’s] reputation that he has built through his life,” said Takashi Takano, Ghosn’s attorney, in a blog post .
Takano said he wanted Ghosn to avoid detection and prevent “the whole world” from knowing where he lives.
“If Mr. Ghosn had headed to his residence without disguise, he would have been chased by innumerable camera crews via motorcycles, cars and helicopters,” Takano said. “He may lose his health instead of recovering.”
Ghosn is the former head of Nissan and Renault, which together with Mitsubishi make up a global alliance that by some measures is the world’s biggest automaker.
He was arrested November 19 and is awaiting trial on charges that he understated his income for years and abused his position by transferring personal investment losses to Nissan.
In many countries, including the United States, “perp walks” are a controversial but century-old tradition in which police parade around suspects in handcuffs after their arrest. The “perps,” or perpetrators, often (unsuccessfully) try to shield their faces from the press’ cameras.
The media interest in high-profile suspects often continues after they post bail and are released from jail. Sometimes, defendants host press conferences outside court houses. Others often rush through hoards of journalists, shielded by their lawyers, family and supporters.
Ghosn’s disguise attempt was doomed to fail. Locked up in prison for more than three months, he had become one of Japan’s most famous detainees. After a judge granted him bail earlier in the week it was only a matter of time before Ghosn left detention, and the press was waiting for him.
Ghosn is unable to leave Japan while on bail. He will be monitored by surveillance cameras. But he was seen in public twice on Thursday, taking a stroll with two women — believed to be his wife and daughter — in a Tokyo park. He was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, and he was surrounded by press.
