Automaker 'Corruption' Saga Has a New Twist

Nissan Motor Co. executive Greg Kelly was released from detention in Japan on Tuesday after being granted bail over the alleged underreporting of his boss Carlos Ghosn's pay, the AP reports. The late-night release of Kelly, who is American, followed the Tokyo District Court's approval earlier in the day of a bail request filed last week by his Japanese lawyer. Kelly was freed on 70 million yen ($635,600) bail, ending his detention after more than a month. Television footage captured the bespectacled Kelly, wearing a beige jacket, slowly walking out of the detention center and getting into a black car.

The vehicle drove past reporters waiting outside of the gate as cameras flashed. Kelly was expected to go straight to a hospital for treatment of his chronic neck problem, according to local media. Kelly and Ghosn were detained in Tokyo immediately after their Nov. 19 arrest. They are charged with underreporting Ghosn's pay by about 5 billion yen ($44 million) in 2011-2015. Kelly's Japanese lawyer sought bail after the court dismissed prosecutors' request for more detention for the two to investigate their second allegation of underreporting Ghosn's 4 billion yen ($36 million) pay. Charges for an underreporting allegation in more recent years are pending, and no trial date has been set. (Read more about Nissan's jailed former chief.)