Ghosn Defends Use of Versailles for Wife’s 50th Birthday Bash

(Bloomberg) -- Carlos Ghosn stood by his use of the Palace of Versailles to throw a party for his wife, saying he saw no ethical problem with staging a personal event at a site financially supported by his former employer Renault SA.

During his first press conference in more than a year on Wednesday, the former chief executive officer of the French carmaker and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. spent more than five minutes parrying criticism of Carole Ghosn’s 50th birthday blowout at the onetime home of France’s pre-revolutionary kings.

Ghosn said the head of the palace, Catherine Pegard, offered the use of a room and he didn’t question the arrangement. Renault has a sponsorship agreement with Versailles.

“If I had thought there had been an ethical problem, I wouldn’t have done it,” a defiant Ghosn told reporters in Beirut, where he has taken refuge since fleeing Tokyo. Ghosn vigorously denied Japanese prosecutors’ allegations that he misused company money and under-reported his income at Nissan, and he mounted a fierce attack on Japan’s criminal justice system.

The Versailles press office didn’t immediately return a request for comment. A spokesman for Renault declined to comment.

The use of the palace is under investigation in France, after Renault signaled to French authorities a “personal benefit” worth 50,000 euros ($56,000) for the 2016 party, which was first described as a wedding celebration. Ghosn has previously said he would reimburse the sum.

--With assistance from Gearoid Reidy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ania Nussbaum in Paris at anussbaum5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, ;Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Eric Pfanner, Andrew Noël

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