He had declared on several occasions to have confidence in French justice, he will perhaps revise his point of view. Carlos Ghosn, the ousted boss of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, is now the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by French justice as part of an investigation for “misuse of corporate assets and money laundering”, announced , Friday, April 22, the parquet floor of Nanterre to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The businessman, a refugee in Lebanon since his spectacular escape from Japan at the end of 2019, was arrested for financial embezzlement in November 2018, in Tokyo, where he should have been tried.
This arrest warrant was issued by the Nanterre investigating judge in charge of one of the investigations into the Ghosn affair which is of interest to French magistrates: an investigation into payments of 15 million euros between the company under Dutch law Renault-Nissan BV (RNBV) and Renault’s distributor in Oman, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA).
In addition to Mr. Ghosn, four other people are targeted by these arrest warrants. According to wall street journal, it would be Suhail Bahwan, the billionaire whose sprawling conglomerate owns the concession in Oman, two of his sons and the former general manager of the Omani concession. Mr. Bahwan is one of the great fortunes of the Middle East. The magazine Forbes estimates it at 2.6 billion euros in 2022. One of his daughters, Hind Bahwan, is president of the Franco-Omani Friendship Association and received, in February 2019, the Legion of Honor, from the hands of the French ambassador to Oman.
Purchase of a 40 meter yacht
In this case, the investigators rely on an internal audit that Renault sent to justice in 2019. They suspect Mr. Ghosn of having diverted for his benefit, through a shell company called Good Faiths Investments, payments from the French manufacturer (in this case performance bonuses) to its Omani distributor. Part of this money would have been used to purchase a 40-meter yacht.
“We learned through the press of the existence of this arrest warrant, declared to World a spokesperson for Carlos Ghosn. It should be noted that it is issued as part of the continuation of an ongoing investigation and that in no case has Mr. Ghosn been convicted. » “This mandate is very surprising, because the investigating judge and the Nanterre prosecutor know perfectly well that Carlos Ghosn, who has always cooperated with justice, is subject to a judicial ban on leaving Lebanese territory”reacted one of Mr. Ghosn’s lawyers, Jean Tamalet, of King and Spalding.
You have 25.6% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.