This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/business/nissan-greg-kelly.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Carlos Ghosn and Nissan Board Member May Soon Leave Japanese Jail | Carlos Ghosn and Nissan Board Member May Soon Leave Japanese Jail |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| Last month, Greg Kelly, a Nissan board member and aide-de-camp to the company’s embattled chairman, Carlos Ghosn, planned to join the company’s meeting as he usually did, via video conference from his home in a leafy Nashville suburb. Then he got a call from Japan. | Last month, Greg Kelly, a Nissan board member and aide-de-camp to the company’s embattled chairman, Carlos Ghosn, planned to join the company’s meeting as he usually did, via video conference from his home in a leafy Nashville suburb. Then he got a call from Japan. |
| Hari Nada, a close friend and a senior vice president at Nissan, invited Mr. Kelly to come to the automaker’s headquarters outside Tokyo. Mr. Kelly told Mr. Nada he could not travel because he was getting ready to undergo surgery to treat a spinal condition, according to an account of the events provided by Mr. Kelly’s family and lawyer. Mr. Nada assured Mr. Kelly that he would be back home by Thanksgiving well ahead of his scheduled operation. Nissan would even send a corporate jet to pick him up — a luxury Mr. Kelly had rarely received. | Hari Nada, a close friend and a senior vice president at Nissan, invited Mr. Kelly to come to the automaker’s headquarters outside Tokyo. Mr. Kelly told Mr. Nada he could not travel because he was getting ready to undergo surgery to treat a spinal condition, according to an account of the events provided by Mr. Kelly’s family and lawyer. Mr. Nada assured Mr. Kelly that he would be back home by Thanksgiving well ahead of his scheduled operation. Nissan would even send a corporate jet to pick him up — a luxury Mr. Kelly had rarely received. |
| Not long after the jet touched down in Tokyo, Mr. Kelly was arrested, part of a meticulously planned operation to bring him and Mr. Ghosn into custody on charges that they violated financial reporting laws by understating Mr. Ghosn’s compensation. | Not long after the jet touched down in Tokyo, Mr. Kelly was arrested, part of a meticulously planned operation to bring him and Mr. Ghosn into custody on charges that they violated financial reporting laws by understating Mr. Ghosn’s compensation. |
| Japanese prosecutors say Mr. Kelly, who was in charge of human resources at the company before becoming a board member, was the mastermind behind a scheme that allowed Mr. Ghosn to illegally omit $44 million in compensation, about half of his total pay, over five years from securities filings. Lawyers in Japan for both men have denied the charges. | Japanese prosecutors say Mr. Kelly, who was in charge of human resources at the company before becoming a board member, was the mastermind behind a scheme that allowed Mr. Ghosn to illegally omit $44 million in compensation, about half of his total pay, over five years from securities filings. Lawyers in Japan for both men have denied the charges. |
| A Nissan spokesman declined to comment on how Mr. Kelly arrived in Japan but said in a written statement: “The cause of this chain of events is the misconduct led by Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Kelly. During the internal investigation into this misconduct, the prosecutors office began its own investigation and took action.” (Mr. Nada could not be reached for comment.) | A Nissan spokesman declined to comment on how Mr. Kelly arrived in Japan but said in a written statement: “The cause of this chain of events is the misconduct led by Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Kelly. During the internal investigation into this misconduct, the prosecutors office began its own investigation and took action.” (Mr. Nada could not be reached for comment.) |
| Mr. Kelly, a United States citizen, and Mr. Ghosn have been held in a Tokyo jail since Nov. 19. Under Japanese law, the men are unable to communicate with their family or foreign lawyers. Prosecutors question them each daily. | Mr. Kelly, a United States citizen, and Mr. Ghosn have been held in a Tokyo jail since Nov. 19. Under Japanese law, the men are unable to communicate with their family or foreign lawyers. Prosecutors question them each daily. |
| “Greg has a long history of being an excellent and ethical lawyer,” Mr. Kelly’s Nashville-based lawyer, Aubrey Harwell Jr., said. “He and Carlos had conversations regarding legal ways they could defer compensation.” | “Greg has a long history of being an excellent and ethical lawyer,” Mr. Kelly’s Nashville-based lawyer, Aubrey Harwell Jr., said. “He and Carlos had conversations regarding legal ways they could defer compensation.” |
| On Thursday, the two men took a step toward being freed when a Tokyo court rejected a request by the prosecutors’ office to extend the men’s detention another 10 days. On Friday morning in Tokyo, instead of applying for bail, Mr. Ghosn was re-arrested on a new charge, “aggravated breach of trust.” Mr. Kelly applied for bail. | |
| Mr. Kelly’s family has become increasingly desperate to get him medical attention, appealing to Japanese officials, the State Department and the senators from Tennessee, Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander. Mr. Alexander’s office said in a statement that it was working to make sure “Mr. Kelly is receiving every possible assistance that should be available to a United States citizen who has been arrested by the Japanese government.” | |
| In a video intended partly to get the attention of American lawmakers, Mr. Kelly’s wife, Donna Kelly, said her husband’s spinal stenosis causes “numbness, tingling and shooting pains in his extremities” and that “his symptoms are exacerbated by sleeping on a futon on the floor of his detention cell” and could become permanent, if not treated soon. | In a video intended partly to get the attention of American lawmakers, Mr. Kelly’s wife, Donna Kelly, said her husband’s spinal stenosis causes “numbness, tingling and shooting pains in his extremities” and that “his symptoms are exacerbated by sleeping on a futon on the floor of his detention cell” and could become permanent, if not treated soon. |
| “We are asking the prosecutors to release Greg and allow him to get the treatment he needs,” Mrs. Kelly said in the video, which was first provided to The Wall Street Journal. | “We are asking the prosecutors to release Greg and allow him to get the treatment he needs,” Mrs. Kelly said in the video, which was first provided to The Wall Street Journal. |
| She said Mr. Kelly “has been wrongly accused as part of a power grab by several current Nissan executives.” | She said Mr. Kelly “has been wrongly accused as part of a power grab by several current Nissan executives.” |
| Yoichi Kitamura, a lawyer for Mr. Kelly in Japan, said a local doctor had examined Mr. Kelly and had reviewed an M.R.I. scan from his American doctor. Later this week, the Japanese doctors will submit a request to the court asking that Mr. Kelly be released for medical treatment in the United States or Japan. | Yoichi Kitamura, a lawyer for Mr. Kelly in Japan, said a local doctor had examined Mr. Kelly and had reviewed an M.R.I. scan from his American doctor. Later this week, the Japanese doctors will submit a request to the court asking that Mr. Kelly be released for medical treatment in the United States or Japan. |
| Representatives from the United States Embassy in Tokyo have visited Mr. Kelly. But a State Department official declined to comment on his case. | |
| Mr. Kelly cut a controversial figure within Nissan, where he had worked his way up from an associate counsel in 1988 to become the first American on the board in 2012, according to multiple current and former executives who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing legal case in Japan. He was seen as a consigliere to Mr. Ghosn, the whisperer behind the prominent chief executive with an outsize persona. Mr. Ghosn, who helmed an auto empire that included Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault, rose to fame and became a fixture at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mr. Kelly was often in the background, offering legal advice. | Mr. Kelly cut a controversial figure within Nissan, where he had worked his way up from an associate counsel in 1988 to become the first American on the board in 2012, according to multiple current and former executives who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing legal case in Japan. He was seen as a consigliere to Mr. Ghosn, the whisperer behind the prominent chief executive with an outsize persona. Mr. Ghosn, who helmed an auto empire that included Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault, rose to fame and became a fixture at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mr. Kelly was often in the background, offering legal advice. |
| Two years ago, Mr. Kelly left Nissan to return to the United States but he remained on the board. Mr. Ghosn, who was preparing to step back from his duties at Nissan, had planned to put Mr. Kelly in a top management position, according to two people briefed on Mr. Ghosn’s thinking. | Two years ago, Mr. Kelly left Nissan to return to the United States but he remained on the board. Mr. Ghosn, who was preparing to step back from his duties at Nissan, had planned to put Mr. Kelly in a top management position, according to two people briefed on Mr. Ghosn’s thinking. |
| Before Mr. Kelly returned to the United States, he was a senior vice president overseeing human resources and was directly involved in executive compensation. All senior staff hired by Nissan passed through Mr. Kelly’s office. | Before Mr. Kelly returned to the United States, he was a senior vice president overseeing human resources and was directly involved in executive compensation. All senior staff hired by Nissan passed through Mr. Kelly’s office. |
| Officials did not cross Mr. Kelly, said one former executive, because they knew he had the power to fire people and set their pay and bonuses. | Officials did not cross Mr. Kelly, said one former executive, because they knew he had the power to fire people and set their pay and bonuses. |
| Unlike Mr. Ghosn, who for years managed the complicated cultural and political dynamics of running an entrenched Japanese company, Mr. Kelly was often seen as advocating American and European interests. One former European colleague said that in board meetings, Mr. Kelly did not speak much and that he could be cold, and displayed no emotion. | Unlike Mr. Ghosn, who for years managed the complicated cultural and political dynamics of running an entrenched Japanese company, Mr. Kelly was often seen as advocating American and European interests. One former European colleague said that in board meetings, Mr. Kelly did not speak much and that he could be cold, and displayed no emotion. |
| Another former Nissan official said that Mr. Kelly once tested him, asking if he was aligned with the Western or Japanese executives at the company and making his own loyalty known. | Another former Nissan official said that Mr. Kelly once tested him, asking if he was aligned with the Western or Japanese executives at the company and making his own loyalty known. |
| Now, Mr. Kelly and his family are relying on the Japanese for his medical release. “With Christmas less than 10 days away, my Christmas wish would be for Greg to be home with his family, recovering from his surgery,” Mrs. Kelly said in the video. | Now, Mr. Kelly and his family are relying on the Japanese for his medical release. “With Christmas less than 10 days away, my Christmas wish would be for Greg to be home with his family, recovering from his surgery,” Mrs. Kelly said in the video. |
| Asked if he was optimistic that Japanese prosecutors would release Mr. Kelly in time to have his surgery, his lawyer, Mr. Harwell, let out a guttural, Southern laugh. “Optimistic?” he said. | Asked if he was optimistic that Japanese prosecutors would release Mr. Kelly in time to have his surgery, his lawyer, Mr. Harwell, let out a guttural, Southern laugh. “Optimistic?” he said. |