However in closing their case in opposition to Kelly, prosecutors stated the retirement plans have been merely a pretense to compensate Ghosn for the pay lower he took in his final eight years.
“It’s clear that Kelly knew that the shortfall equals postponed remuneration, in accordance with items of goal proof,” the prosecutor stated.
The prosecutors pointed to compensation agreements for Ghosn and spreadsheets maintained by a Nissan supervisor, the latter of which clearly checklist sure pay figures as “postponed remuneration.”
Prosecutors stated Kelly engaged within the “laundering of backdoor/off-the-book compensation” and that he was the one one with the experience who was senior and trusted sufficient to tug it off.
Prosecutors additionally argued that Kelly had the motivation to plot the scheme for Ghosn partly as a result of Kelly himself hoped to profit from an analogous deferred compensation plan together with his personal pay. After being appointed to the board, Kelly requested Ghosn for approval to obtain remuneration in one other kind later with out it being disclosed in Nissan’s securities report, they stated, and Ghosn acceded.
Kelly testified that he certainly labored on compensation for Ghosn, however the protection says these were potential retirement packages aimed toward retaining Ghosn’s companies after he stepped down. And since they have been for post-retirement work, there was no requirement to report it.
However ultimately, Kelly maintains, no bundle was ever even finalized.
The protection additionally argues that was Kelly was not concerned within the tabulation of any “postponed remuneration” tables and did not even find out about their existence till after his arrest.
Ghosn, now holed up in Beirut as a global fugitive nonetheless needed in Japan, maintains that old-guard nationalists inside Nissan framed him on false monetary misconduct fees to dam him from additional integrating the Japanese carmaker into Renault below a holding firm.
Kelly’s backers posit the identical idea. However the argument didn’t function prominently in Kelly’s courtroom protection, as his lawyer centered as an alternative on attempting to choose aside the varied authorized claims.
Ghosn jumped bail from Japan saying that he could not get a good trial in Tokyo. But when Kelly is cleared in courtroom, Ghosn will probably trumpet the decision as proof that he too was harmless all alongside.
The fact is extra nuanced, nonetheless, as a result of Ghosn faces two extra felony indictments — extra severe accusations of breach of belief — that have been by no means even leveled in opposition to Kelly.
These fees weren’t touched on in any respect in Kelly’s trial. And their particulars have but to be divulged by prosecutors, who’re nonetheless hoping that, at some point, Ghosn will probably be hauled earlier than a Japanese choose.