Wife pleads for jailed Nissan exec’s release
Says arrest in Japan part of ‘power grab’ by others
The wife of Nissan executive Greg Kelly, who was arrested in Tokyo on charges of violating financial laws, proclaimed his innocence and pleaded for his release from what she described as harmful detention conditions.
Dee Kelly, a Brentwood, Tennessee, resident, further argued that her husband is in need of medical care in an emotional video statement obtained by the USA TODAY Network’s Tennessean after it was first published by The Wall Street Journal. If untreated, his spinal stenosis could become permanent, she warned, citing Greg Kelly’s physician.
Dee Kelly said her husband has been betrayed by Nissan officials, who lured him to Japan for the purpose of his arrest. He is accused of participating in a scheme to underreport to the Japanese government millions of dollars in compensation.
“Greg has been wrongly accused as part of a power grab by several Nissan executives,” she said in the video. “The truth of this will come out. Until then, my husband is still behind bars.”
Greg Kelly, 62, and ousted Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn are charged with underreporting compensation by about $80 million. The maximum penalty for violating Japan’s financial laws, as the prosecutors allege, is 10 years in prison, a fine of 10 million yen ($89,000) or both.
Greg Kelly’s attorney in Nashville, Tennessee, Aubrey Harwell Jr., said he has not been able to speak with his client. However, Kelly, through intermediaries, has denied wrongdoing, Harwell said.
“We have information from intermediaries that he takes the position that for a 30-year career at Nissan, everything he did was legal and appropriate and he is not guilty of the charges,” Harwell said.
The Kellys have had homes in Brentwood and Florida, he said.
Greg Kelly’s spinal stenosis symptoms include numbness, tingling and shooting pains in the extremities. His Japan-based attorney has said that his symptoms have worsened while in de- tention, as he sleeps on a futon and without a support pillow, Dee Kelly said in the video.
“Greg is not getting the treatment he needs,” she said.
Dee Kelly said that Hari Nada, a Nissan attorney, told Greg Kelly he was needed in Japan in person and arranged for a corporate jet to fly him last month from Nashville – the home of Nissan’s North American headquarters – to Tokyo. Greg Kelly had preferred to attend meetings by video conference because of spinal surgery scheduled for December in Nashville, she said.
The WSJ cited a Nissan spokesman saying Ghosn and Greg Kelly were to blame for misreporting compensation and that the prosecutors took action based on the automaker’s own investigation. Greg Kelly is receiving proper care in detention, prosecutors said in the WSJ report.
Greg Kelly joined the Nissan board in 2012, and he was the first and only American to become a senior director at the company, according to the WSJ. He previously ran the CEO’s office and human resources when new compensation rules went into effect.
The Kellys spent nine years living in Japan, Dee Kelly said, adding that she cherishes her memories there.
Greg Kelly returned to the U.S. in 2015 after ending most of his duties with the company, according to the WSJ.
Part of his role at Nissan was to solve “complex legal issues,” and he sought insights outside and inside the company, Dee Kelly said.
The Kellys have two sons and a grandson, Dee Kelly said in the video.
“Greg is an honest, hardworking American businessman,” she said. “Throughout Greg’s career he worked incredibly long hours, often sacrificing time with family and friends for the company. Greg and Mr. Ghosn fully believe they did not break the law.”
Dee Kelly said she has been told a doctor will examine her husband.
Nissan declined to comment, according to the Journal, and the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Tennessean.
Dee Kelly said she has not been able to communicate with her husband, and he has not been able to access letters from friends and family members.
“Greg, I’m sure that you will never see this statement, but I want you to know that we love you, miss you dearly, and we are doing everything possible to bring you home soon,” she said in the video. “We are asking the prosecutors to release Greg and allow him to get the treatment he needs. With Christmas less than 10 days away, my Christmas wish would be for Greg to be home with his family, recovering from his surgery.”
Ghosn also is sleeping on a tatami mat and futon in a Tokyo jail cell, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Japanese government officials said Ghosn and Greg Kelly had access to air conditioning in their cells, and Greg Kelly’s Japanese lawyer, Yoichi Kitamura, said Kelly had received a pillow because of his health issues.
Kitamura visits him daily, and representatives from the U.S. Embassy have visited him, according to The Times.