The legal case has been investigated since 2019 and could lead to a trial for corruption and influence peddling for Rachida Dati and Carlos Ghosn. On Wednesday, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office requested the referral to the criminal court of the Minister of Culture and the former boss of the Renault-Nissan automobile group, the public prosecutor confirmed on Friday.
Rachida Dati, who like Carlos Ghosn disputes the accusations, is suspected of having received 900,000 euros from RNBV, a subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan alliance, without compensation for any real work between 2010 and 2012. The minister was then lawyer and Member of the European Parliament, which could have served to hide lobbying activity in the European Parliament.
Concealment of abuse of power, corruption and influence peddling
In detail, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office requested a trial against the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris for concealment of abuse of power and breach of trust, corruption and passive influence peddling by a person invested with a public elective mandate within an international organization, in this case the European Parliament.
“An indictment is only the prosecution’s view of a case. It does not reflect reality,” reacted Rachida Dati’s lawyers. “A legal deadline now opens during which we will respond point by point to counter this fragmented and inaccurate vision,” assured Maîtres Olivier Baratelli and Olivier Pardo.
Carlos Ghosn still a refugee in Lebanon
Carlos Ghosn has been targeted since April 2023 by an international arrest warrant. He risks a trial for abuse of power by a company director, breach of trust, corruption and active influence peddling, in a case in which the Renault company has become a civil party. He was arrested at the end of 2018 in Japan, where he was to be tried for alleged financial embezzlement when he was head of the Renault-Nissan group, but has since found refuge in Lebanon at the end of 2019 after an incredible escape.
The final decision on the holding of a possible trial now rests with the investigating judges responsible for the case, the PNF specifying that an appeal is still pending before the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal.
