Nissan seeks $11.7 million damages from ex-executive Kelly over Ghosn's pay

Nissan Motor Co has sued its former executive Greg Kelly the Yokohama District Court seeking about $11.7 million in damages, for helping former CEO Carlos Ghosn underreport his remuneration.

The first hearing is scheduled for May 12.

Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, claims that Kelly followed Ghosn's instructions not to correct the papers misstating the ex-CEO’s pay.

Kelly was supposedly aware of the inaccuracy since 2010.

Nissan is demanding damages equal to the amount it has already paid after being slapped with a 2.4 billion fine from Japan's financial watchdog.

According to Nissan, they will pursue the necessary responsibility of their former chairman and others for their wrongdoings, including Kelly.

Kelly’s lawyer insists that since all of his actions while at Nissan were meant to benefit the company, there is no reason for him to be sued for damages.

After Kelly was arrested in 2018, he was indicted for conspiring in understating Ghosn’s remuneration by around 9 billion yen over eight years through March 2018.

On March 3, the Tokyo District Court handed 65-year-old Kelly the jail sentence, which was suspended for three years, and found him innocent on other counts concerning its financial reports covering the previous seven years.

The prosecutors had sought a two-year prison term for Kelly, who since returned to the United States.

The district court also ordered Nissan to pay fines of 200 million yen for submitting inaccurate financial statements for fiscal 2011 through 2017 to regulators.

Kelly and the prosecutors have appealed the ruling, while Nissan did not.