Soon the end of the judicial investigation targeting Carlos Ghosn in Paris? The investigating judge who is looking into the contracts signed by a subsidiary of Renault-Nissan when he was the CEO issued an international arrest warrant against him in April, a probable prelude to the closure of the investigations.
The Parisian investigating judge issued this arrest warrant after Mr. Ghosn did not show up for his summons for his possible indictment on May 19, 2022, in particular on suspicion of corruption.
“Carlos Ghosn cannot leave Lebanon, the Lebanese authorities having prohibited him from leaving the territory because of the Japanese prosecution. He cannot therefore respond to summonses for an indictment in France ”reacted My Léon Del Forno and Martin Reynaud, lawyers for the former CEO. “Thus, this arrest warrant is neither more nor less than an attempt by the magistrates to continue their investigation, failing to be able to put Carlos Ghosn on trial”they said.
To date, Mr. Ghosn is therefore targeted by three arrest warrants. A first issued by the Japanese justice which was to judge him for financial embezzlement. The 69-year-old Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian has lived in Beirut since his incredible flight from Japan at the end of 2019.
A second, issued by an investigating magistrate in Nanterre in April 2022, in a judicial investigation opened in particular for abuse of corporate assets and money laundering in an organized gang, in connection with the Omani distributor Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA).
And a third, in Paris. This arrest warrant could be the last act of the judicial investigation opened on July 10, 2019, in particular for corruption, corruption of an agent of a public international organization, influence peddling, abuse of corporate assets and concealment.
Once these investigations are closed, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office will have to take its requisitions then the investigating judge will order, or not, a trial. The arrest warrant equivalent to an indictment, Carlos Ghosn could be sent back to the criminal court.
900,000 euros paid to Rachida Dati
In this case, the suspicions relate to the 900,000 euros paid “in complete confidentiality, even in complete opacity”to Rachida Dati by RNBV, the Dutch subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan alliance, when Carlos Ghosn was the CEO.
Ms. Dati received these fees as a lawyer between 2010 and 2012 when she was also a Member of the European Parliament at the time (2009-2019). The two investigating judges appointed in this case wonder whether the fee agreement could have been used to hide lobbying activity in the European Parliament prohibited to any elected official.
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The former Keeper of the Seals and mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris, who disputes the charges and believes that the case is time-barred, has been indicted since July 2021 for corruption and passive influence peddling by person invested with an elective mandate audience.
“The procedural entry of Carlos Ghosn in the file will allow the truth to come to light”estimated My Olivier Baratelli and Olivier Pardo, lawyers for Mrs. Dati. “A confrontation will be requested between Rachida Dati and Carlos Ghosn, which will make it possible to understand that it is indeed a lawyer, competent, rigorous, who has been hired to do precise legal work for the benefit of Renault”they told Agence France-Presse.
“Carlos Ghosn already answered all the questions on this subject two years ago, when the magistrates in the Paris and Nanterre cases came to question him in Beirut in 2021” in the context of international criminal assistance, for his part recalled the defense of the former boss of Renault.
In this case, the criminologist Alain Bauer, RNBV security consultant for one million euros between 2012 and 2016, was placed under the status of assisted witness. Carlos Ghosn’s former right-hand man, Mouna Sepehri, and Renault’s legal director until 2011, Christian Husson, have also been placed under this status.
In Nanterre, the judicial investigation relates to at least 15 million euros of payments considered suspicious. Carlos Ghosn is suspected of having developed, between 2012 and 2017, an organized money laundering and corruption scheme, with four officials of the Omani car distributor Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), also targeted by an arrest warrant. He disputes the charges.