The conviction of a former American executive of Nissan Motor Corp on charges of helping fugitive former Chairman Carlos Ghosn hide income was upheld by a Japanese appeals court Tuesday, which also rejected prosecutors' bid to overturn his acquittals on other counts.
Greg Kelly, a lawyer and former executive vice president at Nissan, was convicted in 2022 of charges related to only one of eight years during which prosecutors said he under-reported Ghosn's income. Kelly, who received a 6-month sentence suspended for three years and was allowed to return to Tennessee, did not attend the hearing.
Yoichi Kitamura, Kelly’s attorney, said he will appeal to the Japanese Supreme Court.
Prosecutors, who sought to overturn Kelly’s acquittals for the other seven years, declined to comment. Both sides have 15 days to appeal.
“I'm disappointed,” Kelly said in a telephone interview, stressing that the overall finding was favorable.
“But this is not the end. And I'm confident that we will prevail, as we will appeal this decision,” he said.
The latest ruling means the six-year battle over the alleged scheme to hide Ghosn’s pay continues.
Ghosn, who became chairman of Nissan after years working in alliance partner Renault, is widely credited with turning around the Japanese carmaker. He was hailed as a business genius until his relationship with the company broke down for reasons that analysts say are related to his foreign management style in an old-fashioned Japanese company.
Prosecutors and the company said that after the board cut his pay by nearly half, he conspired with Kelly and other company officials to secure secret promises of future compensation.
Ghosn and Kelly were arrested in late 2018 in separate but coordinated operations when they returned to Japan for meetings at Nissan.
Ghosn was charged with underreporting his compensation and with breach of trust. He fled to Lebanon while out on bail in December 2019, hiding in a box for musical instruments carried by two Americans who were later extradited from the U.S., found guilty and served nearly two years in Japan.
Ghosn, who says he is innocent, is unlikely to ever stand trial as Lebanon has no extradition agreement with Japan.
Kelly has repeatedly said he was merely working for Nissan’s interests, and the issue should have been sorted out in a board room, not a courtroom.
Kelly still faces a civil lawsuit filed by Nissan, alleging 4 billion yen in damages. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, acknowledged the case is ongoing but declined to comment.
Nissan, having sunk into losses over the last quarter amid drooping sales, is in talks with Japanese rival Honda Motor Co to integrate their business through a joint holding company.
The Ghosn debacle has long been seen in Japan as a reflection of the difficulties in forging international business alliances.
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14 Comments
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MarkX
I bet some Nissan people wish Ghosn was still running the company now, and maybe they wouldn't be in the situation they are now!
JeffLee
How do you "underreport" something that doesn't even exist?
That's how things ARE done -- except when a troublesome foreigner is involved. When are we going to see the people who systemataically cheated on safety and emission testing for many long years at Japan's major automakers on trial? Answer: never. They're all Japanese.
justasking
No. It's about Japanese injustice system and how corporations weaponize it.
quercetum
Keep fighting Kelly!
Meiyouwenti
The days of incompetent foreign-born executives earning exorbitant salaries are gone for good. Keep wasting your money, Kelly.
sakurasuki
Japan just don't deserve exceptional foreign execs and end up with mediocre execs.
Want a proof, which Japanese companies thrive recently? Is hard to say any? While many US and China company doing many innovation and give market more innovative products for customer to choose.
Aly Rustom
Exactly!
Well that's the thing. He was apparently supposed to report a compensation he never received. THAT'S why the J gov didn't provide the Lebanese gov with the info they requested. They knew they would like complete fools.
Aly Rustom
look like
Belrick
Yet when his Japanese counterpart was found guilty of the same things, he was allowed to walk away a free man. One rule for them...
wanderlust
*...he conspired with Kelly and other company officials..*
And nothing happened to them!
2-tier justice again.
browny1
A deceptive scheme from the start with Nissan in cahoots with the police and certain govt officials.
Ghosn and Kelly were both lured to immediately come to Japan under false pretenses then snared in the trap that was set.
What a way for A Global democratic industrial company to operate.
Simply should have been in house board of directors etc meetings and both cut if found to be at fault.
But no - play the Big Hand hoping to garner a swift victory which never happened and years later the debacle continues.
The court ruling is Judicial Compliance to a T. Don't disrupt Inc.
Nissan's damages were all self inflicted having shot themselves in the foot.
Nissan has besmirched and smeared it's own name globally.
It's losses are it's own.
Negative Nancy
When I saw that picture I thought Atsukiri Jason was looking rough these days...
OssanAmerica
Everyone around Ghosn who helped him, except Ghosn himself has had to face the music.
Kinda reminds you of Trump. lol
dan
I don't see any of the corrupt Japanese Nissan executives facing any lengthy jail time though do you ?
Not a word about them at all.
Seems to me like a one rule for gaijin and another for Japanese kind of thing to me.
Hervé L'Eisa
And ALL THIS is part & parcel to why Nissan's business has been going down in the past few years.
The tried to kill the golden goose.
TokyoLiving
Good..
Garthgoyle
Crazy how this guy saw imprisonment and his lawyers denied of any materials to build a defense, but rape of a minor only earns a slap on the wrist.