Washington (AFP)

Carlos Ghosn, formerly fallen CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance, concluded Monday an agreement with the gendarme of the US Stock Exchange, the SEC, which accused him of having concealed, with the help of one of his lieutenants, Greg Kelly, more than $ 140 million in compensation and pension

"From 2009 until his arrest in Tokyo in November 2018, (Carlos) Ghosn, with the substantial help of (Greg) Kelly and his subordinates at Nissan, took part in a manipulation to conceal more than 90 million compensation dollars, and has also increased by more than 50 million the pension benefit of Ghosn, "denounced the SEC in a statement.

Without acknowledging or denying these accusations, MM. Ghosn and Kelly have reached an agreement with the SEC to settle the lawsuits.

The former has been fined $ 1 million and is prohibited from running a listed company for 10 years.

This penalty means that Ghosn's 65-year-old entrepreneurial career is now in abeyance.

Mr. Ghosn also pledged not to be a member of a board of directors during this period.

"We are satisfied with the conclusion of this agreement in the United States which intervenes without there being any finding or recognition of wrongdoing and which thus ratifies the procedure without Carlos Ghosn having admitted or refuted the allegations. of the SEC ", welcomed the advice of Mr. Ghosn in a statement.

As for Greg Kelly, he will pay $ 100,000 to the US authorities and will not be able to lead or be a member of a company's board of directors for five years.

"Investors have the right to know how and how much they are paid by corporate executives, and Ghosn and Kelly have done everything to hide this information from investors and markets," said Stephanie Avakian, a SEC official. in the press release.

"In a nutshell, Nissan's statements about Ghosn's compensation were false," added colleague Steven Peikin.

Listed companies have the obligation to disclose in their annual report the compensation awarded to their key executives. The emoluments of the CEO once validated by the board of directors are also often submitted to the vote of shareholders at the annual general meeting.

Carlos Ghosn has been indicted in Japan for "aggravated breach of trust". Arrested in November 2018 he was released on bail last spring. Since these legal difficulties, he has been stripped of all his functions within Renault and Nissan.

© 2019 AFP