Trapped: The Greg Kelly Story (9784805321034)

The gripping true story of corporate power, international scandal and Japan's notorious legal system.

The dramatic downfall of Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn has been widely covered in documentaries, news reports and streaming series. But behind the headlines lies a far less known and far more troubling story: that of Greg Kelly, Ghosn's longtime deputy, who remained in Japan to face the full force of the country's legal system alone.

Kelly was the first American appointed to Nissan's board, but was arrested in Tokyo in 2018 and accused of helping Ghosn defraud the company. What followed was a years-long ordeal inside Japan's criminal justice system, where conviction rates exceed 99 percent and pre-trial detention can stretch indefinitely.

Kelly endured prolonged solitary confinement, repeated interrogations without counsel, and severe restrictions on contact with his wife. Suffering from spinal stenosis, he was held under harsh conditions while the case against him, and Ghosn's eventual escape, unfolded internationally.

After years in Japan under surveillance and legal restrictions, Kelly was eventually allowed to return to the United States in 2022 following a suspended sentence, which he continues to appeal.

Co-authored with bestselling writer Robert Whiting, this book tells the inside story of a corporate power struggle, contested allegations of financial misconduct, and the human cost of a legal system that remains little understood outside Japan.


About the Author:
Gregg Kelly is an American lawyer and a former Nissan executive who worked for the Japanese carmaker for three decades. He received a law degree from Loyola University Law School and after working in a private law firm, joined Nissan North America in 1988. He became a senior director of the company and worked closely alongside Carlos Ghosn to engineer the near-miraculous revival of Nissan as a profitable carmaker. In November 2018, he was dismissed and arrested along with Carlos Ghosn due to an alleged misuse of company funds by Ghosn.

Robert Whiting is the author of You Gotta Have Wa, named by Esquire magazine as one of the "Best Baseball Books Ever Written"; and Tokyo Underworld. He has lived in Japan since 1962 and is regarded as one of the foremost foreign experts on the country. The California native has written for many publications over his long career, including The New York Times, The Smithsonian, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Time and U.S. News and World Report. His first book, The Chrysanthemum and the Bat, was named Sports Book of the Year by Time magazine. He is a recipient of the Henry Chadwick Award honoring those who research and write about baseball.