Editor? |? Jane (female name)
Produced? |? Bangning studio
Kelly finally waited for his trial.
On September 5, 2020/KLOC-0, Japan time, the high-profile "Ghosn's financial misconduct accusation case" was held in the Tokyo District Court. Carlos ghosn (Carlos? Ghosn) will certainly not appear in court, but Greg Kelly, a former Nissan executive. Kelly)
Kelly was accused of helping Ghosn hide tens of millions of dollars in deferred payments. But he denied these allegations.
In court, Kelly first showed that his compensation plan for Ghosn was completely legal. He praised former boss Ghosn as an "excellent manager", so it is necessary to keep Ghosn for the benefit of Nissan.
After Kelly was arrested, it will take nearly two years to go to court for trial. He denied breaking the law and insisted that his actions were only to prevent Ghosn from jumping ship to work in a rival company.
The day of the trial happened to be Kelly's 64th birthday. He wore a dark suit, a red tie and a mask to meet the needs of the epidemic. He repeatedly reiterated: "All this is for the best interests of Nissan, and I am not involved in any conspiracy."
Before his arrest, Kelly was a director of Nissan's board of directors and Ghosn's right-hand man. He was accused of planning and concealing Ghosn's deferred salary from fiscal year 20 10 to fiscal year 20 17, which was about $80 million.
2018165438+10/9, Ghosn and Kelly were arrested by Japanese prosecutors on the same day.
Ghosn's arrest threw Nissan's management into chaos, and even almost destroyed Nissan's 20-year alliance with French partner Renault Group. Now, nearly two years later, Nissan Motor and Renault Group are still struggling, trying to rebuild trust and maintain business. Among them, Nissan's situation is more severe, and it is facing the biggest operating loss in history.
If convicted, Kelly may face up to 10 years in prison in Japan.
As a commercial entity, Nissan Motor Company has also been accused of the same. But in court, Nissan representative and vice president Manabu? Sakane said that the company will not dispute these allegations.
Japanese prosecutors said that Kelly and Ghosn plotted a plan to hide more than half of Ghosn's salary until Ghosn retired.
According to the accusation document, in 20 10, the Japanese regulatory authorities revised the company's financial reporting regulations, requiring executives with high salaries (annual salary exceeding 1 100 million yen) to disclose their personal remuneration. Ghosn has been criticized for being overpaid, so he wants to hide all his salary to avoid extra public supervision.
Kelly wears headphones and listens to the English translation of the lawsuit. In an empty court, a jury of three judges presided over the trial. Due to the "social distance" required by the epidemic, the court personnel are sparse. It is understood that more than 240 people participated, but only 19 seats were drawn. Everyone wants to see this high-profile trial site.
Kelly walked slowly into the court with a serious face. On the first day of the trial, he sat straight and expressionless for most of the time. His wife, sandy, sits in the middle of the front row.
Kelly mentioned Nissan's past. 1at the end of 990, Nissan was on the verge of bankruptcy, and it was not until it formed an alliance with Renault Group and welcomed Ghosn that it was able to come back to life. Ghosn later became CEO and chairman of Nissan.
"Mr Ghosn is an outstanding manager." Kelly said. At that time, all industry experts agreed that Nissan was finished, but Mr. Ghosn overcame the experts' bad words with facts.
For such a rare talent as Ghosn, Nissan certainly wants to keep him. Kelly said that including himself, there are also former Nissan CEO Hiroto? Saikawa), other Nissan executives and lawyers at home and abroad have racked their brains to find ways to keep Ghosn at Nissan. Of course, all legal measures have been taken into account.
In the opening statement, the prosecution said that Nissan related personnel listed seven forms in which Ghosn could get the remuneration he deserved, but some of them were hidden from the public.
These seven forms include: payment through RNBV (a joint venture of Renault-Nissan in the Netherlands), payment through a subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co., payment through an external company, selling real estate to Ghosn at a low price, disguised welfare, giving Ghosn a conditional loan, possibly exempting repayment in the future, paying pensions and adding some rewards on the basis of regular pensions.
Another way for Nissan to negotiate is to pay Ghosn 10 years' remuneration after he retires from his current position, so that he can continue to serve as a company consultant. The prosecution said that all these discussions were conducted in private and on the premise that "he (Ghosn) will definitely receive the money".
The prosecution cited a written document of 20 1 1, which showed that the salary paid by Nissan to Ghosn must exceed the officially paid part, which was specifically called "deferred salary".
The prosecution claimed that Ghosn's different forms of salary payment were concealed to 20 18 1 1, and Ghosn and Kelly were arrested. On the super-large screen of the court, the prosecutor showed evidence and document images describing Ghosn's salary structure one by one.
Kelly's lawyer argued that the special funds paid by Nissan to Ghosn were not part of the deferred compensation plan. He reiterated that this is a legal draft post-retirement contract, which aims to keep Ghosn as a consultant of Nissan and prevent him from jumping ship to a competitor.
Lawyers insist that the amount of this salary has never been determined and the agreement has never been finalized. The most important thing is never to pay. Therefore, it is not necessary to disclose this information in the financial report.
In addition, the lawyer also argued that Kelly did not participate too much in the deferred payment. In fact, he said, there are many signatures of other Nissan executives on the relevant documents.
A representative of Nissan said in court that Ghosn was worried that he would be criticized by the public if he disclosed his full salary. A lawyer of Nissan said that trying to distinguish between disclosed and undisclosed salaries and concealing future salaries can only be said to be beneficial to Ghosn and unfavorable to Nissan.
Nissan subsequently issued a press release, briefly summarizing Nissan's internal investigation on this matter.
Nissan Motor Company said in the overview: "According to a lot of convincing evidence found in the investigation, Nissan Motor Company determined that Ghosn and Kelly deliberately committed serious misconduct and seriously violated the company's moral standards. The facts surrounding its misconduct will be displayed in the course of court proceedings and the law will be implemented in accordance with its procedures. "
Outside the courtroom, Kelly's wife said, "It's a pity that Mr. Ghosn is not here, but he has the right to do what is good for him." She also said that their son very much hoped to come to Japan to support their father during the trial, but because of the COVID-19 epidemic, they were unable to do so.
Kelly's trial is expected to last until July, 20021,and the final judgment will not be earlier than autumn, 20021.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.