Report: Ghosn Kept List of Hidden Compensation

Japanese prosecutors have found a list apparently created by former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn that indicates compensation the company didn’t report but he expected to receive after retiring, The Nikkei says.

The newspaper says authorities consider the documents as evidence that Ghosn was well aware of the difference between his actual compensation and what was stated by the company in securities reports.

Ghosn was indicted on Dec. 10 for understating his compensation by 4.8 billion yen ($43 million) during fiscal 2010-2014. Prosecutors also leveled new charges claiming Ghosn hid another 4.2 billion yen ($37 million) for the 2015-2017 fiscal years.

The Nikkei says Ghosn appears to have begun in 2010 to defer large portions of his annual compensation until after retirement. That was the year that changes in Japanese fiduciary reporting began to require that companies report specific compensation for each board director.

Nissan reported only what Ghosn actually received each year. The newspaper says Ghosn and unnamed others documented the amount they were to eventually receive, how much they deferred and the difference between the two, which Nissan reported.