Court upholds conviction of American who helped fugitive former Nissan chief hide pay

abcnews.go.com:

A Japanese appeals court upheld the conviction of a former American Nissan executive for helping fugitive former Chairman Carlos Ghosn hide income, while rejecting prosecutors’ bid to overturn his acquitals on other counts

TOKYO — The conviction of a former American Nissan executive for helping fugitive former Chairman Carlos Ghosn hide income was upheld by a Japanese appeals court Tuesday, which also rejected prosecutors' bid to overturn his acquitals on other counts.

Greg Kelly, a lawyer and former executive vice president at Nissan Motor Corp, was convicted in 2022 of charges related to only one of eight years during which prosecutors said he under-reported Ghosn's income. Kelly, who received a 6-month sentence suspended for three years and was allowed to return to Tennessee, did not attend the hearing.

Yoichi Kitamura, Kelly’s attorney, said he will appeal to the Japanese Supreme Court.

Prosecutors, who sought to overturn Kelly’s acquitals for the other seven years, declined to comment. Both sides have 15 days to appeal.

The latest ruling means the six-year battle over the alleged scheme to hide Ghosn’s pay continues.

Ghosn, who became chairman of Nissan after years working in alliance partner Renault, is widely credited with turning around the Japanese carmaker. He was hailed as a business genius until his relationship with the company broke down for reasons that analysts say are related to his foreign management style in an old-fashioned Japanese company.

Prosecutors and the company said that after the board cut his pay by nearly half, he conspired with Kelly and other company officials to secure secret promises of future compensation.

Ghosn and Kelly were arrested in late 2018 in separate but coordinated