Japanese Court confirms a conviction of former director of Nissan Motor-Observer

American Greg Kelly, former director of Nissan Motor, was again convicted Tuesday in Japan for collaborating on the financial irregularities committed by former president Carlos GhosnFlee from Japanese Justice.

The Supreme Court of Tokyo upheld the decision made in March 2022 by another court in the capital, which was the subject of appeal by the defendant, after receiving a suspended sentence of six months in prison.

Kelly, once Ghosn’s right arm, was considered guilty of conspire with the former president of the company not to declare future compensation agreed between Nissan and the maximum leader of the automobile manufacturer.

The suspended imprisonment meant that Kelly had not to serve a prison sentence as long as she was not involved in any criminal activity over three years, and in practice she allowed her to return to the United States.

Kelly claimed to appeal acquittal of all accusations that it was considered guilty. The prosecution requested up to two years in prison for the US executive, detained in Japan in November 2018, at the same time as Ghosn’s detention.

The US jurist worked at Nissan as a representative director, one of the highest positions at the top of the company, and turned out to be Nissan’s only executive to be tried after other Japanese officials have reached court agreements.

The 2022 sentence, confirmed on Tuesday, was the first in the 2018 process against Ghosn, which shook the automotive industry because it is one of the most respected executives among the largest car manufacturers in the world.

President of the Nissan Renault Group Carlos Ghosn detained on suspicion of tax fraud

After the Rocambolesque Escape from Ghosn to Beirut at the end of December 2019, the Japanese court decided to separate the lawsuits against the head of Nissan and Kelly, since the former president of the company could not be tried to default.

Ghosn managed to escape from Japan by hiding in a musical instrument box and was transported on a private plane to Lebanon with scale in Turkey, although he was prevented from leaving Japan as the bail.

Carlos Ghosn. Theories there are many, the best is that the entrepreneur fled from Japan within the box of a musical instrument

Former President of the Nissan-Renault Alliance, with triple nationality (French, Brazilian and Lebanese), remains in Lebanon, a country that has no extradition treaty with Japan, and says he was the victim of a plot orchestrated by the Japanese manufacturer and for Japanese government.