April 22, (THEWILL) –Â France has issued an international arrest warrant for Carlos Ghosn, the disgraced auto tycoon, who jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon in a sensational getaway.
The allegations against Ghosn, 68, include misuse of company assets, money laundering and corruption.
The warrant relates to over 15 million euros ($16.3 million) in suspect payments between the Renault-Nissan alliance that Ghosn once headed and an Omani company, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), said prosecutors in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
The auto tycoon – who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian passports – was initially due to stand trial in Japan, following his detention there in 2018, but he jumped bail and made a sensational getaway to Lebanon, where he now lives.
The international arrest warrant issued on Thursday by a court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, is a strong message to Lebanon, which does not extradite its citizens and has banned Ghosn from leaving its territory.
If the warrant is carried out, Ghosn will be summoned before a judge in Nanterre and formally indicted.
The French probe centres on suspect financial dealings between Renault-Nissan’s Dutch subsidiary RNBV and SBA, consultancy work involving RNBV and a former government minister, and lavish parties organised at the Versailles Palace in France.
Renault, which is a civil party in the case, said it “took note” of the Nanterre prosecutors’ move.
“This is a major development which can be explained in part by the severity of new information that has come to light … concerning hidden financial dealings worth several million euros between Carlos Ghosn and SBA’s founders and bosses”, said Renault lawyer Kami Haeri
The Ghosn saga, began in November 2018, when Ghosn (then boss of Nissan and head of an alliance between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors), was detained in Japan on suspicion of financial misconduct along with his top aide, Greg Kelly. They both denied wrongdoing.
In December 2019 as he awaited trial, Ghosn was smuggled out of Japan on a private jet, hidden in an audio equipment case, and flown to Beirut.
He justified his escape to Lebanon by saying he did not believe he would get a fair trial in Tokyo.
Ghosn also accused Nissan of colluding with prosecutors to have him arrested in a “palace coup”, because he had sought to strengthen the Japanese firm’s alliance with Renault.
In 2020 Interpol issued a “red notice”, advising Beirut that Ghosn was a fugitive from Japan and was wanted by the Tokyo authorities for prosecution.
Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan, has not arrested him.
He is respected in Lebanon for his entrepreneurial skills and gives lectures at the Saint-Esprit de Kaslik University, near Beirut. But he remains discreet and steers clear of commenting on the country’s political and economic upheavals.
One of Ghosn’s lawyers, Jean Tamalet, said the French warrant was “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.”
French officials have twice travelled to Beirut in the course of their investigations. They questioned Ghosn in 2021, but only as a witness as a formal indictment cannot be made until and unless he is on French territory.
Meanwhile, his former aide, Kelly was last month handed a six-month suspended sentence by a Tokyo court over allegations he helped Ghosn attempt to conceal income.
Prosecutors had sought two years in prison for Kelly, accusing him of helping Ghosn under-report his income to the tune of 9.1 billion yen ($79 million) between 2010 and 2018. The court only found Kelly guilty for the financial year 2017.
In an interview with French newspaper, Le Parisien in February, Ghosn hit out at what he said was a “stab in the back by the French government and the Renault board of directors.”
French Economy Minister, Bruno Le Maire, declined on Friday to comment on the latest developments, telling BFMTV/RMC radio: “Let justice take its course.”
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