Photo/Illutration Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn speaks in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 10. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

ISTANBUL--Suspicious money transfers totaling about 33 million yen ($306,600) were made to a senior official with a Turkish jet operator in connection with Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Japan, Turkish news outlets reported.

The official, who works for MNG Jet, was indicted by Turkish prosecutors on charges of abetting the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman's flight from justice in December.

The official's trial is scheduled to start in July.

Prosecutors are believed to be investigating whether the remittance was made to reward him for his assistance in enabling Ghosn to flee from Japan.

The former Nissan chief was indicted on charges of underreporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds.

Ghosn fled Japan after being released on bail in Tokyo in April.

Ghosn reportedly departed from Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture and traveled to Beirut, the Lebanese capital, via Istanbul, Turkey. Both private jets were arranged by MNG Jet.

According to the Turkish media, prosecutors said in the indictment that the transfers of the money in U.S. dollars and euros were made to the official’s personal account on more than 10 occasions by December.

The official reportedly told prosecutors that he was warned by a person orchestrating the escape that his family would be harmed if he did not cooperate. 

MNG Jet filed a criminal complaint in January that two of its private jets were used illegally for Ghosn's escape for a flight from Dubai to Istanbul via Osaka and another from Istanbul to Beirut.

On May 7, Turkish prosecutors indicted the official and four pilots on charges of smuggling Ghosn and two cabin attendants on charges of failing to report a crime to law enforcement authorities.

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