BEIRUT – A group of French investigators will come to Beirut next month to sign up in interrogating former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, a Lebanese justice ministry official said Saturday.
The official gave no specific date or details of what information the investigators would seek from Ghosn.
Former auto executive Ghosn, who's a Lebanese, Brazilian and French national, fled Japan inside a dramatic escape that drew headlines last year, arriving in Lebanon on Dec. 30, 2021.
In accessory for his trial in Japan, the 66-year-old businessman is facing a number of legal challenges in France, including tax evasion and alleged money laundering, fraud and misuse of company assets while at the helm from the Renault-Nissan alliance.
The Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity consistent with regulations, said the French investigators could be working alongside their Lebanese counterparts.
Information about investigations is secret under French law, and French judicial officials didn't react to requests for comment Saturday on the report.
After leading japan automaker Nissan for 2 decades, Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2021 on charges of breach of trust, misusing company assets for private gains and violating securities laws by not fully disclosing his compensation. He denied wrongdoing and fled Japan while out on bail awaiting trial. He's unlikely to be extradited from Lebanon, where he has been since this past year.
At least two Ghosn-related investigations were opened in France. One centered on suspicious transactions between Renault along with a distributor in Oman, in addition to suspected payments for private trips and events paid by Renault-Nissan's Netherlands-based holding company RNBV.
Another investigation focused on suspected misuse of company funds for any party for Ghosn at Versailles.
The French inquiry aims to find out who is at fault for a string of alleged financial violations between 2009 and 2021.
That includes \”suspicious financial flows\” between Renault and also the SBA car dealership in Oman. This part of the inquiry is targeting into the millions euros of travel along with other costs paid by the Netherlands-based Renault-Nissan holding RNBV but suspected to have been for Ghosn's personal use.
Ghosn's French lawyers have said the instalments to SBA were \”justified bonuses\” for having boosted car sales in the Persian Gulf and denied allegations the funds benefited Ghosn or his family personally.
Renault this past year said an internal audit with Nissan found 11 million euros in questionable expenses at RNBV allegedly linked to Ghosn, including for air travel, personal spending and donations to nonprofit organizations.
