Two men who identified themselves as two American security operatives smuggled fugitive former Nissan Boss Carlos Ghosn from Japan, it has been claimed.

The Wall Street Journal claims that Michael Taylor and George Zayek identified themselves with US passports during the journey and allegedly accompanied Ghosn when he boarded a plane in Osaka, Japan on Sunday.

While the two contractors boarded the plain normally, Ghosn was taken on board in a large black musical instrument case.

A file photo from April 2019 shows former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn leaving the Tokyo Detention House. Michael Taylor and George Zayek identified themselves with US passports during the journey and allegedly accompanied Ghosn when he boarded a plane in Osaka, Japan on Sunday

Ghosn was under house arrest in Japan after being charged with underreporting his pay and shifting personal losses to Nissan. He flew from Osaka to Istanbul on Sunday, where he boarded a smaller jet to Lebanon, arriving on Monday.

According to Japan's Kyodo news agency, the two private security operatives are said to have pretended to be part of a group of musicians for a Christmas party at his residence in Lebanon.

The Wall Street Journal spoke to people familiar with a Turkish investigation into the matter who claim there were only two individuals, Mr Taylor and Mr Zayek, listed on documents for the flight from Osaka to Ataturk airport in Istanbul.

Policemen accompany seven suspects, who were arrested allegedly for helping out former chairman of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn flee from Japan to the courthouse in Istanbul on Friday

Seven suspects are escorted by Turkish polic eas they leave a police station in Istanbul on Friday

Mr Taylor's company, American International Security Corp., were famed for aiding the extraction of a New York Times reporter called David Rohde after the Taliban kidnapped him in Afghanistan in 2009. He also served time in a US jail for wire fraud.

George Zayek has held positions in security firms linked to Mr Taylor, according to the Wall Street Journal.

There is a photographic evidence of the passports and visas of the two men, it's alleged.

Ghosn was not seen returning home after leaving around noon on December 29, local public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday, prompting the belief that he escaped by simply walking out of his front door.

He was caught on a security camera leaving his Tokyo home by himself on the day he is thought to have fled to avoid the Japanese trial.

The security footage was taken by a camera installed at his house in central Tokyo around noon on Sunday, and the camera did not show him returning home, NHK said. By early Monday, he had touched down in Istanbul.

Carlos Ghosn was pictured celebrating New Year's Eve with wife Carole (right) in Beirut after he managed to escape from house arrest in Japan

At the time, it appeared to contradict reports that the former CEO slipped out of his Tokyo residence, where he had been kept under intense surveillance, in a musical instrument case.

Ghosn had been under strict bail conditions when he illegally fled Japan for Lebanon.

It comes as Turkish private aircraft operator MNG Jet said that its planes were used illegally in the escape from Japan of ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, adding it had filed a criminal complaint.

Policemen bring seven suspects to a courthouse in Istanbul on Friday. They are accused of helping Ghosn flee Japan to Lebanon, via Turkey

Security cameras are seen above the entrance of the residence of former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn in Tokyo on January 3, after Ghosn fled Japan to avoid a trial

In a statement on Friday, the jet operator said one of its employees admitted having falsified the records to exclude Ghosn's name from official documentation without the knowledge the company.

It is believed Ghosn took a private jet from Kansai Airport in western Japan to Istanbul, before heading from there to Beirut.

MNG Jet said in its statement it leased two jets to two different clients in agreements that 'were seemingly not connected to each other.' One plane flew from Osaka to Istanbul, the other from Istanbul to Beirut.

'The name of Mr Ghosn did not appear in the official documentation of any of the flights,' it said.

'After having learnt through the media that the leasing was benefiting Mr. Ghosn and not the officially declared passengers, MNG Jet launched an internal inquiry and filed a criminal complaint in Turkey,' it added.

Turkish private aircraft operator MNG Jet has filed a criminal complaint (stock image of MNG private jet)

Ghosn is said to have flown from Tokyo to Beirut via Istanbul in Turkey

An employee admitted to falsifying the records and confirmed he 'acted in his individual capacity,' the company said.

The pilots and other detainees, including two airport ground staff and one cargo worker, were sent to court on Friday after giving statements to police.

Seven suspects in Istanbul who are accused of helping Ghosn flee Japan via Turkey were on Friday seen being escorted by police to a courthouse.

Ghosn has said he will speak publicly about his escape on January 8.

The news comes a day after prosecutors raided the residence as part of an initial probe into his flight.

NHK said police were analysing other surveillance footage, believing there is a possibility he joined someone to head for the airport.

The camera placed near the entrance of his Tokyo residence showed no suspicious person around the time that Ghosn left, according to NHK and the business daily Nikkei.

Ghosn was on Tuesday pictured celebrating New Year's Eve with his wife and friends in Lebanon.

The 65-year-old former Nissan CEO can be seen sitting next to wife Carole in a plush dining room in front of a table strewn with empty plates, glasses, a half-full bottle of wine and decorated with lit candlesticks.

It is thought the image, obtained by French TV station TF1, was taken inside the Beirut mansion where he has been holed up in since his arrival in the country.

The residence of former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn is seen in Tokyo on January 3

Security cameras are seen at the entrance of the residence of former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn in Tokyo on January 3. Ghosn was caught on a security camera leaving his Tokyo home by himself on the day he is thought to have fled to avoid a Japanese trial, local media reported Friday

Ghosn, who faced multiple charges of financial misconduct that he denies, won bail in April but with strict conditions - including a ban on overseas travel and living under surveillance.

But the executive, who has French, Brazilian and Lebanese nationalities, managed to slip out of Japan on Sunday despite having handed over his three passports to his lawyers.

Ghosn said on Thursday through the Paris-based agency handling his public relations that he organised his dramatic escape from bail in Japan alone and that his family had nothing to do with his escape.

A house identified by court documents as belonging to former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn in a wealthy neighbourhood of the Lebanese capital Beirut

Ghosn pictured with his wife Carole in April last year. Ghosn was able to enter Lebanon on a French passport

Quoting a Lebanese consultant in Tokyo, Kyodo said Ghosn hid in an instrument case before boarding a private jet - a scenario a member of Ghosn's entourage has previously denied.

Interpol, the international police cooperation body, has issued a 'red notice' for Ghosn's arrest in the wake of him fleeing Japan, while Turkey announced it was holding seven individuals in connection with his escape.

Ghosn was able to enter Lebanon on a French passport, according to airport documents.

A court in Tokyo had allowed Ghosn to keep a second French passport as he needed one to travel inside Japan, a source close to the matter said.

According to this source, the court in Tokyo had allowed Ghosn to keep a second French passport so long as it was kept 'in a locked case' with the key held by his lawyers.