TOKYO, Mar 3 (NNN-NHK) – Former Nissan Motor Co. executive, Greg Kelly, and the automaker itself, were found guilty today on charges connected to the underreporting of ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn’s pay.
The former Nissan representative director was sentenced by the Tokyo District Court to six months in prison, suspended for three years.
The court ordered Nissan, Japan’s third-largest automaker, to pay 200 million yen (1.72 million U.S. dollars) in fines, in line with prosecutors’ demands.
Kelly, a U.S. citizen and former close aide of Ghosn, however, had a number of other charges by prosecutors facing him dropped.
Kelly was accused of colluding with Ghosn in understating Ghosn’s remuneration by around nine billion yen (77.82 million U.S. dollars) over eight years through Mar, 2018.
Nissan was also found guilty of violating Japan’s financial instruments and exchange law.
Prosecutors, since the trial kicked-off in Sept, 2020, argued that Kelly’s role was a decisive one in plotting the scam to enable Ghosn to be compensated with deferred payments,
These deferred payments were in addition to his regular pay and were aimed at making Ghosn’s earnings look lower than was in fact the case.
Kelly, maintaining that there was no agreement between Ghosn and himself for the alleged deferred payments, said, he wanted to retain Ghosn so the once-feted auto bigwig could continue providing services for Nissan.
These deferred payments were in addition to his regular pay and were aimed at making Ghosn’s earnings look lower than was in fact the case.
In June, 2021, two U.S. citizens charged with helping Ghosn flee Japan in 2019, while on bail awaiting his trial, pleaded guilty in court.
Michael Taylor, a former Green Beret, and his son Peter, had already admitted to helping Ghosn flee Japan, so the former auto tycoon could avoid trial for charges of financial misconduct.
The Taylors were charged with providing Ghosn illegal passage to Lebanon, one of three countries he is a national of, by smuggling him out of his residence in Tokyo and to Kansai International Airport, via two hotels in late Dec, 2019.
The father and son team, in full knowledge that Ghosn was prohibited from leaving the country, as part of his bail terms, hid Ghosn in a large box, which cleared Kansai airport security, and the illicit cargo was flown to Turkey on a private jet.
At the request of Japanese prosecutors, the Taylors were arrested in Massachusetts in 2020 by U.S. authorities.
They had fought extradition to Japan in U.S. courts but ultimately lost their battle when their appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Michael Taylor ended up receiving a two-year sentence, and Peter Taylor received a sentence of one year and eight months, at the conclusion of their trial.
Japan has since been trying to detain Ghosn with the help of Interpol, as Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.
This means that Ghosn cannot be legally handed over to Japan without Lebanon first agreeing to it.– NNN-NHK
