The reason the Japanese government stuck its nose in Ghosn affairs is not particularly secret: it was to prevent the merger of Renault and Nissan, and was drive

The reason the Japanese government stuck its nose in Ghosn affairs is not particularly secret: it was to prevent the merger of Renault and Nissan, and was driven by Nissan employees who felt the merger was very one-sided (all power going to France). This is what was said in Japanese media shortly after Ghosn arrest. But that's completely orthogonal as to whether Ghosn is guilty of anything. You don't get a free pass for fraud (embezzlement in this case) just because the context is political. I'm surprised that a lot of people are mixing these two things together. There is what Ghosn did, or is accused of doing (embezzlement), and there is why anyone went in to check (prevent the Renault Nissan merger). The US government is also well known to use its judicial branch to exert political pressure on foreign actors (see the Alstom buyout by GE). That doesn't make the fraud perpetrated by individuals somehow acceptable. But it can justify governments getting involved to prevent these individual actions having larger consequences.