Tokyo prosecutors plan to arrest Carlos Ghosn on a fresh claim of understating his income, media reports said.
Citing a Sankei newspaper report on Tuesday, Reuters said the move could keep the former chairman of Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors in detention until the end of the year.
Ghosn had been detained in Tokyo since his 19 November arrest on suspicion of conspiring with former Nissan representative director Greg Kelly to understate his compensation by about half of the actual JPY10bn (US$88m) over five years from 2010.
Tokyo authorities on Friday extended their detention until the maximum 10 December for the alleged crime.
According to Reuters, the Sankei daily, citing unnamed sources, said prosecutors plan to arrest Ghosn and Kelly on 10 December for the same crime covering the period from 2015 to 2017 during which the suspects allegedly understated Ghosn's income by about JPY4bn. If authorities approve the maximum detention for that case, Ghosn and Kelly would remain in custody until 30 December, the paper said.
The Tokyo prosecutors' office declined to comment to Reuters on the report.
Reuters said Ghosn had been unable to respond to the allegations, which public broadcaster NHK had said he has denied. Reuters calls to Ghosn's lawyer, Motonari Otsuru, at his office went unanswered.
The news agency noted, in Japan, crime suspects can be kept in custody for 10 days and that can be extended for another 10 days if a judge grants prosecutors' request for extension. At the end of that period, prosecutors must file a formal charge or let the suspect go.
However, they can also arrest suspects for a separate crime, in which case the process starts over again. This process can be repeated, sometimes keeping suspects detained for months without formal charges and without bail, Reuters added.
