Former Nissan Motor Co. executive Greg Kelly is confident that he can win an acquittal over his alleged involvement in underreporting compensation for his former boss and one-time corporate superstar Carlos Ghosn as a court is scheduled to hand down a ruling on Thursday.

"There was no need to report because Carlos Ghosn never got paid, and there was never an agreement to pay Carlos Ghosn," Kelly said in a recent interview. "This is not a criminal matter, and nobody should go to jail for anything."

Kelly, the 65-year-old former Nissan representative director and close aide of Ghosn, is accused of conspiring with Ghosn, former Nissan chairman, in understating his remuneration by around ¥9 billion ($77.9 million) over eight years through March 2018, violating Japan's financial instruments and exchange law.