Ghosn: the allegations and the rumours
One of the world's best-known tycoons, car titan Carlos Ghosn's arrest for alleged financial misconduct stunned the auto sector and the wider business world.
A week after his arrest, fresh allegations are appearing almost daily in the local media but so far there is only one official reason for his arrest and Ghosn himself denies the claims.
AFP looks at the details of the allegations against Ghosn and his aide Greg Kelly, as well as other unsubstantiated claims leaked to the media.
Officially, Ghosn has to answer only one allegation: that he conspired to under-report his income to the tune of $44 million.
Since Monday's stunning arrest, the prosecutors' office has made just one official statement:
"The two suspects conspired to submit financial statements ... five times between June 2011 and June 2015 stipulating suspect Ghosn's financial remunerations totalled about 4,987 million yen for the consolidated accounting years from the term ended in March 2011 to the term ended in March 2015 although the sum was about 9,998 million yen."
The two suspects "each submitted financial statements that carried false records on important matters," added the prosecutor.
No. The documents Ghosn stand accused of falsifying are not tax declarations and he is not suspected of trying to defraud tax authorities.
Instead, he is accused of under-stating -- by about one billion yen per year -- his compensation in the so-called "yukashoken hokokusho" -- an annual account of the state of the company published to shareholders.
"Listed companies are obliged to produce this document every year," explained Jun Yokoyama, a financial law expert from Daiwa Securities.
"All the company's financial information has to appear in this document as well as the combined compensation for management and the individual breakdown for those earning more than 100 million yen," Yokoyama told AFP.
The "yukashoken hokokusho" is designed to provide a complete picture of the firm's finances to shareholders, analysts and investors.
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