(This Nov. 26 story, corrects date and clarifies condition of deadline by which authorities must file charges against Ghosn or let him go, in first paragraph)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Carlos Ghosn, the ousted chairman of Japan's Nissan Motor Co, is being held in Tokyo's main detention center after allegations against him of financial misconduct. If prosecutors seek a maximum 10-day extension of Ghosn's detention, and the court approves, Japanese authorities will have to file charges by Dec. 10 or let him go.

The compensation packages for Ghosn, one of the most celebrated and well-paid leaders in the global auto industry, have been a sore point among investors of the Renault-Nissan alliance which he helped launch in 1999.

The scandal comes just five months after Ghosn, 64, narrowly won a shareholder vote at Renault over his 7.4 million euro pay package for 2017. He had lost the vote in 2016.

The following are allegations made by Nissan and the media. There has been no public comment from Ghosn on the allegations, and Reuters could not contact him or his lawyers for comments.

UNDER-REPORTED EARNINGS

Japanese prosecutors allege Ghosn and fellow board member Greg Kelly, who is also being held for questioning, conspired to under-report by about half the 10 billion yen ($88 million) Ghosn earned at Nissan over five years from fiscal 2010 in filings to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Nissan declined to give further details about the under-reporting, but the Nikkei business daily, citing unidentified sources, said Ghosn had received share price-linked compensation of about 4 billion yen over a five-year period to March 2015 and it went unreported in Nissan's financial reports.

The financial reports also did not mention annual compensation of 100 million to 150 million yen Ghosn received from the automaker's overseas subsidiaries, the newspaper said.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the investigation, that Ghosn earned 8 billion yen in what Nissan calls unreported deferred compensation in the eight years that ended in March 2018.

The structure was formulated in consultation with Kelly, and Ghosn told colleagues that if he was set to receive the deferred money after retirement, it wouldn’t have to be reported in Japanese regulatory filings, the report said.

The Asahi newspaper also reported, without citing sources, that Ghosn had understated his remuneration at Nissan by around 8 billion yen in the eight years through the fiscal year that ended in March, including 3 billion yen over the last three fiscal years.