TOKYO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have accused ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn of receiving an illegal payment from an overseas company jointly made by the two automakers.

Netherlands-based-Nissan-Mitsubishi B.V., according to the latest allegations facing the embattled automotive heavyweight, paid Ghosn 7.82 million euros (8.9 million U.S. dollars) "illegally" from a fund established to "facilitate the generation of synergies."

The accusations are based on findings made by the two automakers' own investigation.

According to Mitsubishi Motors, the illicit payment was made without the approval of the board of directors and was made at the instruction of Ghosn to Nissan executives under a shady employment agreement.

The agreement was composed by someone without the requisite authority to do so at the joint venture, said Mitsubishi Motors.

Ghosn may have created the joint venture with the sole purpose of defrauding it for personal gain, said a lawyer from Mitsubishi Motors who is leading the probe. The lawyer intimated that the act could be tantamount to corporate embezzlement.