Former Nissan Motor executive Greg Kelly denied helping ousted boss Carlos Ghosn hide earnings, saying at his trial in Tokyo on Wednesday that his only goal had been to retain a chief executive who could have been lured away by a rival automaker. Ghosn escaped to Lebanon in December 2019 hidden in carry-on luggage on a private jet that flew out of Kansai Airport, while he awaited trial on charges of financial wrongdoing, including understating his compensation in financial statements. Kelly and Ghosn, who also denies the charges, have both said they are victims of a boardroom coup by former colleagues worried the latter would push through a merger between Nissan and Renault SA, its largest shareholder.
Ghosn was retention risk, Nissan s Kelly says at trial
Ghosn was retention risk, Nissan s Kelly says at trial
The former director was concerned that Ghosn s compensation was too far below international norms
Bloomberg
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Greg Kelly, Nissan s former representative director, arriving for the first trial hearing at the Tokyo District Court.
Former Nissan Director Greg Kelly testified in court in Tokyo for the first time, saying he considered Carlos Ghosn a flight risk after the ex-chairman voluntarily reduced his own pay, and that he looked for legal ways to keep him at the automaker.
“I and other executives believed that after Mr. Ghosn reduced his salary, well below that of other global executives, that Mr. Ghosn was a retention risk,” Kelly said in response to questions by his defense counsel. He denied that there was a conspiracy to inflate the executive’s pay.
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