How Japan Appeals Court Rubber-Stamped Kelly Verdict In Ghosn Case

2025-02-08 07:02:03

(MENAFN- Asia Times) TOKYO - Japan's criminal justice system once again was on trial in a Tokyo courtroom this past week, as former Nissan Motor Co. executive Greg Kelly sought to clear his name and overturn his conviction for allegedly conspiring with ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn to underreport future income in violation of Japan's financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

Kelly, who wasn't in Japan for the ruling, claims he didn't do it, and the appeals court, like the lower court before it, found that to be the case regarding the first seven of eight years mentioned in the indictment against him - fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2016.

But the Tokyo High Court upheld the lower court's guilty verdict regarding the eighth year, fiscal 2017. The court's decision was based on a seven-to-eight-minute meeting in June 2018 at which the head of Nissan's secretariat, Toshiaki Ohnuma, claims to have shown Kelly a spreadsheet adding up undisclosed compensation for Ghosn dating back to the end of fiscal 2009, when Ghosn took a nearly 50% pay cut.

Kelly has appealed again, to the country's Supreme Court.

The original guilty verdict on the eighth charge was handed down in March 2022. Under pressure from the US government and with support from the US ambassador, Rahm Emanuel, the court suspended Kelly's sentence - six months in prison - for three years.

There are many problems with the Japanese criminal justice system's handling of the case, including Nissan's and the Tokyo prosecutor's office's withholding of exculpatory evidence from Kelly's lawyers. There are clear anti-foreign overtones. Of four top lieutenants working on post-retirement employment plans to retain Ghosn when he retired, only Kelly, a non-Japanese, was charged.

Kelly acknowledged having attended a meeting with Ohnuma at Nissan headquarters in June 2018, but denied having seen the document. Thus was lined up a classic“he said, he said” situation.

But one“he,” namely Ohnuma, was onside with the Japanese system, having entered into an immunity agreement with the Tokyo prosecutor's office in October 2018, three weeks before Ghosn and Kelly were arrested. There was no evidence definitively putting the document in the room where Kelly and Ohnuma met.

MENAFN08022025000159011032ID1109184158

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.