Seen from France, it is obviously not the most famous name in this case.

But in the absence of Carlos Ghosn, escaped from the archipelago in incredible conditions at the end of 2019, Japanese justice targets Greg Kelly in the compensation trial planned for the big boss of the Nissan group.

At the end of September, prosecutors demanded two years in prison against the former head of Nissan legal affairs, now 65. They had presented him as the mastermind of the automaker's efforts to secretly inflate Carlos Ghosn's income. The prosecution accuses him of having helped the Franco-Lebanese businessman to hide from the Japanese stock exchange authorities 9.1 billion yen (nearly 70 million euros) of income over the period 2010-2018 that Nissan planned to later pay to his big boss at the time.

"I was not involved in a criminal conspiracy, and I am not guilty of any crime", defended the American accused on the last day of the trial.

Greg Kelly explained that his actions with other Nissan officials were aimed at "finding a legal way to keep" Carlos Ghosn in the fold of the Japanese automaker after his retirement, in the "best interest" of the group which feared it would join a competing company.

On the form, his lawyer Yoichi Kitamura explained that neither the amounts, nor the means of payment nor the schedule of these payments were determined, and therefore Nissan did not need to publish this data.

Nissan pleaded guilty

If the verdict will not be delivered until March 3, Yoichi Kitamura, said he was “rather confident” at the end of September on the American's chances of being acquitted, and announced that they would “automatically appeal” in the event of pain, even slight. The trial is also being followed closely in the United States, where the new ambassador to Japan, Emanuel Rahm, told the US Senate last week that he intended to follow the case closely.

Also on trial in this trial, but as a legal entity, Nissan for its part pleaded guilty on Wednesday, while begging the judges for leniency.

The lawyers of the Japanese manufacturer allied with the French Renault have notably argued the fines totaling several tens of millions of euros that it has already paid to the Japanese and American stock exchange authorities in this case, and the damage to its brand image.

The prosecution last month demanded a symbolic fine of 200 million yen (1.5 million euros) against Nissan.

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