Ghosn's close associate says the FSA has not declared a retirement salary

TOKYO (Kyodo) – Greg Kelly, a close associate of Carlos Ghosn, former chairman of Nissan Motor Co., said that the Japanese financial services agency had told him that it was not necessary to report the compensation that Ghosn would receive after his retirement, sources said Thursday.

Tokyo prosecutors believe the two men were aware of the need to report Ghosn's retirement program after their retirement, but they did not do so. However, Kelly is likely to deny allegations that he intentionally falsified securities reports, they said.

The former director of Nissan's representative was arrested on November 19 with Ghosn, suspected of conspiring to indulge in financial misconduct. Kelly said she consulted with a chartered accountant and a lawyer about the need to report post-retirement payments, sources said.

He also told prosecutors that it was not necessary to report compensation because it had not yet been settled, the sources said. In the United States, Kelly's lawyer told Kyodo News the day before that she "absolutely believed that what he had done was legal".

The post-retirement payment that has not been declared for eight years from the 2010 fiscal year amounted to about 8 billion yen ($ 71 million) and was to be paid under form of consultation fees, among others.

Ghosn thought that he should receive about 2 billion yen a year, but had ordered Kelly to state in securities reports that he was earning 1 billion yen a year and that he was not going to get it. he planned to receive the rest after his retirement, said the same sources.

The FSA stated that she did not comment on individual cases.

Ghosn was arrested by prosecutors for alleged violation of the Japanese Financial Instruments and Foreign Exchange Law due to the under-reporting of his compensation of about 5 billion yen over five years until March 2015 , while he had received about 10 billion yen during this period.

Prosecutors are also considering pleading against him for underreporting an additional 3 billion yen of compensation over three years as of April 2015.

Ghosn denied the accusation.