Photo/Illutration Greg Kelly, center, a former director at Nissan Motor Co., listens to the ruling on March 3 in the Tokyo District Court. (Illustration by Kageyoshi Koyanagi)

A Tokyo District Court ruling on March 3 effectively pinpointed the mastermind behind the huge financial misconduct scandal at Nissan Motor Co.

But the apparent ringleader, Carlos Ghosn, 67, was half a world away when the ruling came down on March 3 and has shown no indication that he will ever return to Japan to face trial.

Ghosn’s former associate, Greg Kelly, 65, was found guilty of conspiring to underreport Ghosn’s remuneration as chairman of the automaker for one year and was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for three years.

Kelly’s lawyers said he would appeal the verdict.

The trial heard details about the underreporting of Ghosn’s remuneration. Much of the information came from Toshiaki Onuma, the former head of the secretary’s office at Nissan, who cooperated with prosecutors in a plea-bargaining arrangement.

In its ruling, the court said Ghosn sought to reduce the amount he would receive from Nissan because he was worried that if the French government knew the true amount, his position as chairman of Nissan and Renault SA would be jeopardized.

The French government is a major shareholder in Renault.

The ruling said the underreporting “was based on Ghosn’s self-interest as he tried to protect his position while also obtaining a large remuneration.”

The ruling described how Ghosn instructed Onuma to calculate three separate amounts regarding his remuneration and to only include a reduced figure on Nissan’s annual financial statements as required by law.

The total amount as well as the unpaid amount were never included in the financial statements, so the court ruled that Ghosn and Onuma had conspired to underreport the remuneration for the years between 2010 and 2017.

The ruling also said the concentration of authority in Ghosn’s hands led to deficient corporate governance at Nissan, which provided the base for which the underreporting could be carried out.

Because Ghosn, who fled Japan for Lebanon in December 2019, was not facing trial, the Tokyo District Court did not touch upon the indictments for aggravated breach of trust brought against Ghosn by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

He was accused of funneling funds from Nissan to friends and associates overseas.

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