The Tokyo High Court has upheld a lower court ruling that gave a former Nissan Motor executive a suspended prison sentence over underreporting the remuneration of ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Greg Kelly was accused of conspiring with Ghosn to underreport his executive pay over eight years through fiscal 2017. Kelly was charged with violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, but he insists he is not guilty.

The Tokyo District Court acquitted Kelly of charges for fiscal 2010 to 2016, but found the defendant guilty of conspiring with Ghosn in fiscal 2017. It sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for three years.

Both Kelly's lawyers and the prosecution have appealed to a higher court.

On Tuesday, the Tokyo High Court upheld the lower court's decision and affirmed the original sentence.

Presiding Judge Karei Kazunori referred to a former Nissan chief secretary who testified that he and Kelly conspired in underreporting Ghosn's pay.

Karei noted that the chief secretary had reached a plea bargain with the prosecution and could have testified in line with the prosecutors' views. But he said the district court had studied the testimony carefully, and made no error in its ruling.

The judge also found that further testimony by the secretary, affirming that he showed a written record of Ghosn's fiscal 2017 executive pay to Kelly, is credible as it is backed by documents.

Kelly's defense counsel has appealed the latest ruling.

Ghosn had also been arrested and indicted, but he fled Japan to Lebanon in 2019 while on bail.