“The court finds there is unpaid” and non-disclosure of the “total amount” constitutes “false” reporting, Kelly’s chief justice told the court.
However, the judge said Kelly was unaware of all the 9.3 billion yen ($ 80.46 million) hidden payments in a decade, instead blaming Toshiaki Onuma, an official who oversees the details of Gon’s compensation as a clerk, for some of them. Onuma, who was a key prosecution witness, was not tried in exchange for his cooperation.
The judge sentenced Kelly to six months probation.
The allegations stemmed from a 2010 change in financial regulations that required executives earning more than 1 billion yen ($ 8.71 million) to disclose their pay.
Kelly has denied violating the law and says his only intention is to give Gon, who was also Renault’s chief executive, a compensation package to dissuade him from turning to a competing carmaker.
“While it was three long years for the Kelly family, this chapter is over. He and Dee (his wife) can start their next chapter in Tennessee,” US Ambassador to Japan Ram Emanuel said in a statement.
In addition to the accusation of concealing $ 80 million in profits over eight years, Gonn is also accused of enriching himself at the expense of his employer through $ 5 million in payments to a car dealership in the Middle East and temporarily transferring personal investment losses to books. to his former employer.
Gon denied all charges against him.