French justice has issued an international arrest warrant once morest Carlos Ghosn, former boss of the Renault Nissan alliance who currently lives in Lebanon, as part of an investigation conducted in Nanterre for abuse of corporate assets, money laundering and corruption.
The 68-year-old Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian, who was to be tried in Tokyo for financial embezzlement, has lived in Beirut since his incredible flight from Japan at the end of 2019.
This international arrest warrant issued Thursday, which is worth indictment, is a strong message sent to the Lebanese authorities who do not extradite their nationals and who have banned Mr. Ghosn from traveling. If the arrest warrant is executed, it will be directly presented to an investigating judge, in Nanterre, who will notify him of his indictment.
In the viewfinder: nearly 15 million euros in payments considered suspicious between RNBV, the Dutch subsidiary embodying the Renault-Nissan alliance, and the distributor of the French car manufacturer in Oman, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA).
The investigating judge in charge of the investigation also issued four other international arrest warrants once morest “the current owners or former managers of the Omani company SBA”, said the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, contacted by AFP.
Specifically, it is the founder of SBA, his two sons and the current CEO, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Justice accuses them of acts of money laundering or corruption.
The judicial investigation, opened once morest X in February 2020 by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, in particular for abuse of corporate assets and money laundering, was indeed extended last July to the head of “corruption”.
“Major step”
The Renault group, a civil party since February 2020 in this case and which had never spoken until now, “takes note of the decision of the magistrates”, told AFP its lawyer Me Kami Haeri.
“This is a major step which can be explained by the seriousness of the new facts which have been brought to light following meticulous investigations bringing to light hidden financial relations involving several million euros between Carlos Ghosn and the founders and SBA executives, he added.
In this case, justice also suspects Carlos Ghosn of having personally benefited from a sponsorship agreement between Renault and the establishment which manages the Palace of Versailles, by organizing two private parties there, which he disputes.
“It is not an arrest warrant issued by France but by the court of Nanterre during an ongoing investigation, more precisely by the parquet floor of Nanterre”, reacted to AFP one of Mr. Ghosn’s lawyers, Jean Tamalet, of King and Spalding.
“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”, added Me Tamalet.
Targeted by an arrest warrant from Interpol, the former car magnate has been forced to stay in Lebanon since he fled Japan in December 2019, hidden in a box of audio equipment.
“Stab ”
Revered in Lebanon as a business giant, Carlos Ghosn lectures at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), near Beirut. However, he remains discreet, refraining from commenting on the troubled political and economic life of the country.
Arrested in Tokyo in November 2018, he justified his escape by claiming to have wanted to “escape injustice”, denouncing a “plot” by the Japanese authorities.
In an interview with Le Parisien last February, he also assured that he wanted to return to France as soon as he “might”. “For the moment, I cannot return” to France, because of the arrest warrant from Interpol, declared Carlos Ghosn. “I am French, I was educated in France, I lived in France, I have a very deep tie,” he claimed.
He also denounced the “deadly stab carried by the French government and the board of directors of Renault”.
On Friday, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on BFMTV / RMC that he would make “no comment” on the arrest warrant, calling for “let justice do its job”.
To carry out their investigations, magistrates had already traveled twice to Beirut.
Last February, the magistrates of Nanterre interviewed two witnesses there. In the previous June, they had proceeded, with magistrates from Paris, to the free hearing of Mr. Ghosn for five days, for the investigations which target him in Nanterre and Paris.
The investigation in Paris is interested in the consulting services concluded by RNBV with the former French Minister of Justice Rachida Dati and the criminologist Alain Bauer.
