French Police Search Renault as Part of Ghosn Investigation
Renault Headquarters raided to gather evidence for an investigation related to spending by former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
(Bloomberg) -- French police raided Renault SA’s headquarters outside Paris on Wednesday to gather evidence for a probe into spending by former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
A spokesman for Renault confirmed the police presence, first reported by French magazine L’Express. An official at the prosecutor’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
French investigators opened an investigation earlier this year into whether Ghosn improperly used a Renault sponsorship deal to host his 2016 wedding party at the Chateau de Versailles. The magazine said the probe was recently widened to include spending at Renault-Nissan BV, or RNBV, the Dutch joint venture between Renault and Nissan Motor Co., and Ghosn’s relationship with an Oman billionaire who was a Nissan intermediary. A spokesman for Ghosn said he has denied allegations related to the Oman distributor, and that he would repay the marriage-related expenses.
The search at Renault’s site in Boulogne-Billancourt follows a report of another at one of Ghosn’s homes west of the French capital in a town called L’Etang-la-Ville. Ghosn, who was the head of Renault, Nissan and the third partner in their alliance Mitsubishi Motors Corp., is facing trial in Japan for alleged financial crimes. He’s denied all the charges, which stem from an internal probe by Nissan. Renault has also carried out its own investigation, while a separate audit examined the workings of RNBV.
Following its internal probe, Renault alerted French prosecutors to millions of euros paid by Ghosn to Suhail Bahwan Automobiles LLC, a distributor of Renault and Nissan in Oman, people familiar with the matter have said. Without disclosing the name of the distributor, the French manufacturer said it flagged concerns to judicial authorities about “certain payments” going to a Middle-East-based importer.
Suhail Bahwan has been Renault’s exclusive distributor in Oman since 2004. A Nissan probe raised questions about payments to the company, people familiar with the matter have said. A representative for the Oman-based company didn’t return a request for comment.
Versailles Party
The RNBV audit, conducted by the French firm Mazars, highlighted 10.9 million euros ($12.3 million) in spending that went toward trips to the Cannes film festival, Rio de Janeiro Carnival and flights on a corporate jet that may not have been related to Ghosn’s responsibilities, people familiar with the matter have said. It also concluded that the venture lacked oversight.
Auditors also questioned events at Versailles. Ghosn has said he planned to pay back the renowned castle for costs related to his Marie Antoinette-themed wedding party after Renault disclosed he may have improperly used a sponsorship deal to host the event. The carmaker had signaled a “personal benefit” worth 50,000 euros to French authorities.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ania Nussbaum in Paris at anussbaum5@bloomberg.net;Gaspard Sebag in Paris at gsebag@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Tara Patel, Andrew Noël
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