Kelly told the court that he did not conspire with Ghosn to pay the high-flying executive tens of millions of dollars in postponed compensation as payback for the pay cut. Instead, Kelly said his efforts were aimed at keeping Ghosn on board after retirement with a generous package for such work as consulting, which Ghosn would continue to render after stepping down.
But Japanese prosecutors allege that Kelly plotted with Ghosn to effectively hide more than half his compensation in a scheme that would have the payouts deferred until after he retired.
The prosecution alleges the executives did so beginning in 2010, the year Japan changed its corporate reporting rules to require executives with big pay packages — those totaling more than ¥100 million ($907,000) a year — to disclose their individual compensation. Prosecutors allege that Ghosn, long under fire for pulling down one of the highest salaries in Japan, wanted to hide his full pay to avoid additional public scrutiny.
Kelly and Ghosn were arrested in a coordinated swoop after they landed in Japan for a meeting on Nov. 19, 2018. Both men deny any wrongdoing, but after Ghosn jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in 2019, Kelly was left to stand trial alone. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Testimony is expected to end in July, but a verdict could take until early next year.
Ghosn contends that a cabal of Nissan insiders targeted him with concocted allegations in an effort to block his plans to integrate Nissan and its alliance partner Renault under a holding company.
The case has drawn international support for Kelly, who spent the last few years of his career working in Japan for the automaker. Three U.S. senators published a letter last year in support of Kelly, a resident of Tennessee, calling his predicament a “cautionary tale” for Americans working in Japan.
