By Sean McLain and Patricia Kowsmann 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (January 19, 2019).

Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Carlos Ghosn improperly received nearly $9 million from a Dutch entity the car makers jointly owned, a rare public statement outlining specific allegations against the former chairman of both companies.

Both companies removed Mr. Ghosn from his chairman position soon after his arrest on Nov. 19 because of alleged financial misdeeds. Until Friday, they had declined to provide specific information in public beyond the criminal allegations made by Japanese prosecutors.

The companies said Mr. Ghosn received EUR7.82 million ($8.9 million) between April 2018 and November 2018, after signing an employment agreement with Nissan-Mitsubishi BV, a Netherlands-based company whose ownership is split 50-50.

Mitsubishi Chief Executive Osamu Masuko said Mr. Ghosn's actions were inappropriate and the payments occurred without his knowledge. "I had no idea," Mr. Masuko said.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Nissan's investigation found that Nissan-Mitsubishi BV paid Mr. Ghosn around $8 million over the period. Friday's higher figure included taxes paid for him.

While the payments aren't part of the criminal charges faced by Mr. Ghosn, both Nissan and Mitsubishi said they will pursue ways to recover the money from him. Nissan provided the information that led to the criminal investigation into Mr. Ghosn and helped prosecutors carry out his arrest in Japan shortly after his arrival on a private Nissan jet.

A spokeswoman for the Ghosn family declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Ghosn in Japan didn't respond to requests for comment Friday. He previously declined to comment on the allegations about the Nissan-Mitsubishi BV money.

Mitsubishi's Mr. Masuko, Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa and Mr. Ghosn were the board members of Nissan-Mitsubishi BV. The companies said Mr. Ghosn paid himself without their knowledge, despite a company requirement that all director compensation be approved by the board, and the other two men didn't get paid.

Mr. Ghosn entered into an employment agreement that made him a managing director of Nissan-Mitsubishi BV and entitled him to pay in that role rather than in his capacity as a board member, according to Mitsubishi. Mr. Masuko said a few other people at the auto makers earned salaries from the Dutch entity but payments to the board directors were due to be discussed early this year.

In April, Nissan and Mitsubishi together sent EUR15.6 million to the Dutch entity in service fees, which were supposed to be distributed later to people who helped the partners generate cost savings.

A board meeting in January had given Mr. Ghosn sole authority to determine how the cash from Nissan-Mitsubishi BV was disbursed, according to a Nissan person familiar with the company's investigation.

"Nissan views the payments Ghosn received from [Nissan-Mitsubishi BV] to be the result of misconduct, and will consider measures to recover from Ghosn the full sum," a Nissan statement said.

Nissan is also pursuing the recovery of what it sees as improper payments in Brazil, where it submitted a court filing involving Mr. Ghosn's sister, Claudine Bichara de Oliveira.

Ms. Oliveira received payments from Nissan supposedly for serving as a member of the company's Donation Advisory Council, but that role doesn't exist, the company said in a court filing.

Payments to Ms. Oliveira began in 2003 and lasted through 2016. She received $180,000 connected to the supposed council work between 2014 and 2016, the filing said. It didn't give the total payment but cited an agreement to pay her $50,000 a year between 2007 and 2011. The filing seeks to freeze the statute of limitations on unjust enrichment, which in Brazil is three years, said a Nissan spokesman.

--River Davis contributed to this article.

Write to Sean McLain at sean.mclain@wsj.com and Patricia Kowsmann at patricia.kowsmann@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2019 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)