Head of American Honda Subpoenaed to Testify at Bribery, Kickback Trial : Courts: Top Japanese official is noncommittal about appearing. Two former executives are accused of accepting millions from dealers who wanted preferential treatment in car supplies.

The president of American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance has been subpoenaed to testify at the federal bribery and kickback trial of two former executives, but it was uncertain Tuesday whether he would show up.

The subpoena for Koichi Amemiya to testify against former executives Dennis Josleyn and John Billmyer was accepted last week by American Honda lawyers, according to company spokesman Jeffrey Smith.

Josleyn of Penn Valley, Calif., and Billmyer of Raleigh, N.C., are accused of accepting millions of dollars from dealers who wanted preferential treatment when Hondas were in short supply and hot demand in the 1980s.

Sixteen former executives--including Laguna Hills resident Stanley James Cardiges--have pleaded guilty in the case, along with three dealers and a lawyer.

Cardiges was American Honda’s top U.S. sales executive until 1992. He was accused of accepting about $5 million of the $15 million in bribes that the government alleges was scooped up by the Honda executives.

After maintaining his innocence to racketeering, fraud and conspiracy charges for nearly a year, Cardiges entered a surprise guilty plea in early February--on the morning the trial was set to begin--and immediately became a key witness for the prosecution.

Amemiya was subpoenaed by prosecutors, but an appearance at the U.S. District Court trial by the company’s top Japanese official could make the other side happy as well. One defendant has built his defense on assertions that he was only doing what his Japanese superiors expected and condoned.

Josleyn’s lawyers say top American Honda executives considered the kickbacks to be perks of their jobs. The kickbacks included cash, jewelry and gifts that included house payments, college tuition, fur coats, new cars and luxury vacation trips.

American Honda denies having knowledge that a large group of its executives were on the take, and federal prosecutors have called the company the primary victim of the decade-long kickback scheme because it faces civil lawsuits seeking millions of dollars by dealers who did not get preferential treatment.

But defense lawyers maintain that Amemiya and other top Japanese managers did know what was going on and are trying to distance themselves from American officials so they will not have to admit their involvement.

Smith would not say Tuesday if Amemiya would testify.

“Mr. Amemiya will testify if necessary. As in the past, the company has fully cooperated with the government investigation,” Smith said, noting only that “the appropriate parties” would decide.

Meanwhile, the trial has been recessed since April 19 while a U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals judge in Boston decides whether certain American Honda files should be kept from the defense.

The company earlier had been ordered to turn over to the defense the confidential files of the executive who conducted an internal investigation that led to the ousters in 1992 of Cardiges and other company officials.

Honda, however, maintains that the files contain privileged information, including records of attorney-client exchanges, and has asked the appeals court to reverse the order.