Carlos Ghosn Criticizes Judge in Trial of Former Nissan Aide

Mr. Kelly was found guilty on one charge and given a suspended sentence without mandatory prison time, which his supporters said meant he could return home to the U.S. soon.

The judge was harsher in assessing the conduct of Mr. Ghosn, who escaped to Lebanon in December 2019, a little more than a year after his arrest in Tokyo.

Both Messrs. Ghosn and Kelly were charged with hiding deferred compensation for Mr. Ghosn on Nissan financial statements, and both said they were innocent.

“The foundation of this case is the personal greed of Ghosn, who sought to protect himself while securing payment of high compensation. Regarding this motive, there are absolutely no extenuating circumstances,” Judge Shimotsu said. He said society at large was shocked by the actions of the world-famous executive.

“I’m shocked that the judge made a statement like this, when he said the whole society is revolted by this,” Mr. Ghosn said in an interview following the verdict. “Even though I’m not in the room to respond or object, but just making a statement like this is another proof that this whole thing is a plot. I had no chance of receiving a fair trial.”

Mr. Ghosn had alleged that his arrest in late 2018 was a conspiracy between the Japanese government and Nissan executives who sought to prevent a merger between the Japanese car company and its French partner, Renault SA .

Nissan was found guilty on Thursday and fined the yen equivalent of nearly $2 million. The company had said it was guilty at the trial. “They got their achievement, stopping any convergence in the alliance. If this costs a couple million dollars, it’s relatively cheap,” Mr. Ghosn said.

Nissan has said the prosecutors’ charges against Ghosn were correct and he has only himself to blame for his plight.