Society

2 years in prison sought for Greg Kelly

Sep 30 (NHK) - Japanese prosecutors have demanded a two-year prison term for former Nissan Motor executive Greg Kelly for alleged involvement in underreporting remuneration of ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Kelly is accused of conspiring to underreport Ghosn's compensation in the carmaker's securities reports.

Kelly, aged 65, has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought by prosecutors, telling the court he never colluded with Ghosn or any other Nissan executive. Kelly also said he never submitted securities reports containing false information.

Nissan Motor has admitted to similar charges.

Prosecutors told the court on Wednesday that Kelly considered a scheme to pay unpaid compensation to Ghosn in other forms. They said that could be done only by Kelly, who they said was trusted by the former chairman.

Prosecutors said the crime was devised to realize Ghosn's greedy desire to prevent releases of his remuneration to avoid criticism from shareholders and the risk of losing his job, without reducing his remuneration.

They said it is out of the question for a company to engage in illicit practice to keep an executive.

Prosecutors said Nissan's governance was totally dysfunctional, and that the practice continued for a long time under a meticulously set framework and was highly malicious.

They also demanded that Nissan Motor pay a fine of 200 million yen, or about 1.79 million dollars.

Defense lawyers are due to deliver their closing arguments on October 27.

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