Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn will be served a fresh arrest warrant by Tokyo prosecutors on suspicion of failing to report a total of around 4 billion yen (35 million U.S. dollars) of his payments in Nissan's securities reports for the three business years through last March, sources said Tuesday.
The latest bombshell in the Ghosn saga, follows the auto industry heavyweight's arrest on Nov. 19 on suspicion of reporting only about 5 billion yen (44 million U.S. dollars) of nearly 10 billion yen (88 million U.S. dollars) in earnings over the five years to March 2015 in Nissan's securities reports.
Sources close to the matter believe that Ghosn ordered a close aide and potential partner in crime, to ensure that Nissan's financial records showed he earned just 1 billion yen (8.8 million U.S. dollars) a year.
This amounts to 50 percent of his actual remuneration, the sources have highlighted.
Following his retirement, Ghosn, who holds Brazilian, French and Lebanese citizenship, was intending to receive surplus funds hidden from securities reports as fees for consultancy, sources said.
Ghosn has admitted to the Tokyo prosecutors his remuneration was not fully reported in the securities reports to be submitted to Japanese regulators.
He has maintained, however, that the reports were not intentionally doctored, sources close to the investigation said, and claims he did not have to report some of his earnings on payments that have yet to be settled.
He also said that one of the reasons he did not report the full amount was that he did not want his workers to become demotivated as employees on hearing the details of his substantial pay package.
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