France steps up probe into misuse of funds at Renault under Carlos Ghosn
French prosecutors have ratcheted up their investigation into the alleged misuse of funds at Renault related to the carmaker’s former boss and fugitive from Japanese authorities, Carlos Ghosn.
The Nanterre prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday evening that it had opened a probe into suspicious financial flows linked to Renault by an unnamed person, including the abuse of corporate assets, abuse of trust and money laundering between 2009 and 2020. A spokesperson for the justice system explained the non-specific target of the probe by saying the prosecutor’s office did not want to simply limit it to Mr Ghosn at this stage, but that the former head of the Renault-Nissan alliance was one of the people being investigated. The probe, said the statement from the prosecutors, will involve an investigating judge and look at suspect financial flows between Renault and a car dealership in Oman, called SBA. It will also involve allegedly suspicious spending on trips and events, including parties held on the grounds of the palace of Versailles, one of which was to celebrate Mr Ghosn’s wedding and wife’s birthday in 2016. A preliminary investigation into that party was opened last year. The prosecutors said on Wednesday that the expenses being investigated are “potentially of a private nature, paid for by a Dutch subsidiary, RNBV, to the detriment of the Renault group, for amounts of several million of euros”. Mr Ghosn’s French lawyer said the news was “not very significant” and that it would be for them “to put our case before the designated magistrate after having — finally! — become aware of the file. We are delighted to enter an adversarial phase of the procedure.” Renault declined to comment.
The spokesperson for the justice system said that the investigation, which will extend beyond France, could take years to come to fruition, noting that it was unclear at this stage if Mr Ghosn himself would be heard. Mr Ghosn — the former head of the Renault-Nissan alliance and chair of the Japanese company — was originally arrested in Japan in late 2018 on charges of financial misconduct at Nissan. But in December he fled from Japan to Lebanon, meaning that he will now not undergo a criminal trial in Tokyo. In a dramatic hours-long press conference in Beirut after his flight, Mr Ghosn accused Japan of “repaying me with evil” for his decades of service. He lashed out at the country’s justice system and defended himself against multiple charges, including using Versailles. Earlier this month, Nissan said it was suing Mr Ghosn for more than $90m, stepping up efforts to recoup losses it alleges stem from his private use of the company jet, payments to his sister, and other damages the carmaker claims it suffered at his hands.
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/c0ef9c32-534b-11ea-90ad-25e377c0ee1f
