Exclusive-French auditor questions SoftBank's accounting at Pepper robot developer

FILE PHOTO: French robot Pepper, detecting whether people are wearing face masks and if not, instructs them to wear them, is displayed at French robotics developer SoftBank Robotics in Paris as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to spread out across France, September 8, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - An auditor has questioned SoftBank's bookkeeping at the French unit that designed its Pepper robot, documents show, casting doubt on the Japanese firm's treatment of a subsidiary it is now trying to sell as the venture has floundered.

The French auditor, in a report seen by Reuters, expresses doubt about the treatment under which the local unit of SoftBank Group Corp's robotics business, according to two people familiar with the matter, booked losses and did not pay tax.