“He became a retention risk,” Kelly said in response to questioning by his chief defense lawyer,
“We were fortunate to have a CEO as talented as Carlos Ghosn,” he said.
Starting in 2010, Ghosn's annual pay was cut by about half, or
Ghosn and Kelly were arrested in late 2018. Ghosn was charged with underreporting his compensation and with breach of trust. But he fled to
A key focus of the trial is whether the unpaid money was ever decided upon. Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, says he is innocent and the money was not decided upon or paid.
Testimony and documents presented during the trial show Kelly sought ways to compensate Ghosn through possible post-retirement consultancy fees and a deal paying him not to leave for a rival company, known as a “non-compete” agreement.
Prosecutors says they're confident about their cases against both Ghosn and Kelly.
During Wednesday's hearing, Kelly said that before the trial began he had never seen detailed calculations of Ghosn's potential pay, which were handled by another Nissan executive who reported directly to Ghosn.
Kelly worked as a labor and environmental lawyer in the
Ohnuma took a plea bargain and testified last year for the prosecution, outlining how he worked on Ghosn’s “unpaid compensation.”
If convicted, Kelly faces up to 15 in prison. The conviction rate in
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