The current mayor Les Républicains (LR) of 7e arrondissement of Paris, Rachida Dati, has just been added to the already long list of those close to Nicolas Sarkozy called into question by the courts. As revealed The chained Duck, the former Keeper of the Seals was indicted on July 22 for “Passive corruption by person invested with a public elective mandate within an international organization” and “Concealment of abuse of power”. Information confirmed at World by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
This is a major procedural development in the judicial information opened for “Corruption, influence peddling and abuse of corporate assets” in the summer of 2019, led by judges Bénédicte de Perthuis, Patricia Simon and Cécile Meyer-Fabre and targeting funds paid by RNBV, the Dutch subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, for the benefit of Mr.me Dati and criminologist Alain Bauer. A procedure that was added to the main investigation aimed at other possible embezzlement of the former CEO of the group, Carlos Ghosn, and educated in Nanterre.
Justice is questioning in particular the reality and the legality of the missions entrusted by Renault-Nissan to Rachida Dati between 2010 and 2012 for 900,000 euros excluding tax, or 25,000 euros monthly. A period during which she already combined the functions of MEP, councilor of Paris and mayor of the 7the arrondissement.
After a first hearing at the end of November 2020, Mr.me Dati had initially benefited from the status of witness, but the magistrates revised their position. According to several sources familiar with the matter, the statements of Mr. Ghosn during his hearing by several French magistrates who came to hear him in Beirut, Lebanon, at the beginning of June are not unrelated to this development.
Rachida Dati has always strongly contested the accusations against her and has already assured several times that the missions entrusted to her had been carried out as a lawyer. According to its fee agreement, disclosed by The world, Mme Dati made a commitment to Mr. Ghosn to “Assist it in determining the conduct of the international extension policy” of the group, “Especially in the countries of the Middle East and the Maghreb”.
“Justice becomes instrumentalized”
The former Minister of Justice, who is credited with national ambitions, attacked the judges in an interview given to the Parisian immediately his indictment known. “As in 2019, we are trying to hinder my commitment in the coming deadlines! ” she asserted, specifying that “Justice becomes instrumentalized for an unacknowledged political struggle”. Contacted, neither Mme Dati nor his lawyers responded to the World.
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