US citizens believed to have aided the escape of former Nissan Motor Co Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Companies Law, had repeatedly entered and left Japan since July last year, the Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

All of their stays were short and could have involved preparations for Ghosn’s escape such as checking escape routes and an airport beforehand, according to informed sources.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Metropolitan Police Department, alleging that Ghosn, 65, left Japan illegally, are reportedly investigating his departure on suspicion of it violating the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, among other charges. They also believe that charges could be laid against Ghosn’s collaborators, including complicity in his illegal departure and concealment of a suspect.

Sources have said Ghosn left his home in Tokyo’s Azabu district by himself at about 2:30pm (0530 GMT) on December 29 and joined three men, who are US citizens, at a luxury hotel in the capital’s Roppongi district. Ghosn is highly likely to have departed Japan with two of the three men.

One of the three men is believed to be a former member of the US Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, aged about 60; another is an official related to a security company, also about 60; and the other man is known to be in his 20s.

Of them, the man in his 20s was the first to enter Japan. In July last year, he stayed in Japan for several days and later visited Japan several more times.

His most recent arrival in Japan was at Narita Airport on December 28, the day before he joined Ghosn. After parting with Ghosn and others in a room he had reserved at the Roppongi hotel, he departed for China from the same airport.

As for the security company-related official, he had entered Japan multiple times since October and stayed for several days each time.

US newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported that a team of 10 to 15 people of different nationalities – including the former Green Beret member and the security company-related official – had begun planning Ghosn’s escape in earnest by the end of July.

By early last month, the operation to get him out of Japan via Kansai International Airport, where security checks on private jets and other inspections are relatively lax, was ready to put into action, the Journal reported.

THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN (JAPAN)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK