Norinchukin Bank is discussing a capital injection into a joint venture that said its estimated loss from debt linked to First Brands Group has ballooned to almost $1 billion.

JA Mitsui Leasing will book a ?150.5 billion ($968 million) allowance on the collapsed U.S. auto-parts supplier, more than three times what it had set aside in November, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

First Brands¡¯ unraveling in September has led to accusations of fraud against its founder Patrick James and his brother. U.S. prosecutors allege they engaged in a series of schemes to defraud the company¡¯s lenders and financing partners.

In early October, JA Mitsui said its wholly owned unit Katsumi Global had $1.43 billion in exposure to First Brands receivables at the time of the bankruptcy filing. The U.S. company filed Chapter 11 with just $12 million in its corporate accounts and more than $9 billion in liabilities.

JA Mitsui said it decided to book the additional loan-loss allowance to recognize ¡°that doubt arises as to the probability of collection of the factoring receivables,¡± given the uncertainty over the future course of the Chapter 11 process.

Norinchukin said it planned to provide necessary support to JA Mitsui in coordination with its joint venture partner, trading company Mitsui & Co., which released a similar statement. The two partners said they were discussing the venture¡¯s capital reinforcement and business management improvement.

The size of capital injection hasn¡¯t been determined as the matter is under discussion, officials from the three companies said.

Tokyo-based JA Mitsui said it is also in talks with five banks, including Norinchukin, for subordinated syndicated loans. The venture estimated a full-year net loss at ?115.7 billion, up from an earlier loss projection of ?600 million.

The wider losses at JA Mitsui are a potential setback for the bank also known as Nochu as it tries to sustain a return to profit following massive losses on foreign bonds last fiscal year.

Norinchukin said in its statement that the venture has maintained a stable business platform, and is an important group company of the bank. It is expected to continue to achieve growth going forward, it added.

Mitsui doesn¡¯t expect any material impact on its consolidated results even if there is an additional JA Mitsui-related loss, Chief Financial Officer Tetsuya Shigeta said at an earnings briefing on Tuesday. The Berkshire Hathaway-backed company booked a ?49.4 billion allowance for doubtful accounts related to the venture in the quarter that ended on Dec. 31.

¡°Our group currently has sufficient liquidity to meet its funding needs,¡± JA Mitsui said. The allowance for doubtful accounts swelled from the ?47.5 billion it booked in November.