On June 4, 2019, the Financial Prosecutor’s Office announced that an investigation, entrusted to the Anti-Corruption Office, has been opened into the assignment contracts between the Renault, Nissan and Rachida Dati and Alain Bauer, as well as the associated remuneration.
Rachida Dati served as legal advisor, Alain Bauer as security advisor, between 2010 and 2013. These contracts are linked to the Dutch structure common to Renault and Nissan, RNBV.
Although associated with the Carlos Ghosn case, the latter will make it clear that he did not personally contract these two consultants and that their assignments depended on Renault’s general secretariat.
On the same day, Renault, in a press release, stated that the Board of Directors has reviewed the conclusions of the audit report, carried out by Mazars and at the Alliance level, which points out travel expenses, and other expenses incurred by Carlos Ghosn and donations to non-profit organizations.
Once again, the conclusions of an audit are leaked to the general public through the media without the report submitted to Carlos Ghosn and his lawyers for clarification. However, this time it is coming from the French manufacturer which somehow is ironic for an organization that prides itself on respecting the rules of ethics and deontology.
These accusations, on which Carlos Ghosn has not had the opportunity to defend himself, continue to fuel the smear campaign aimed at destroying his reputation and painting the portrait of a greedy man.
Following in Renault’s footsteps, the Minister of the Economy, usually so discreet and reluctant to show support for a fellow citizen, said on French news TV BFM: “The State will bring all these elements to justice and there will be a complaint. It will be investigated. Justice will decide. When the State is the reference shareholder of a company (…) it is its role is to ensure that the company’s governance works well”.
The French minister is pushing for a procedure which, if moving forward, will be carried-out in the Netherlands where RNVB is headquartered.
The family is fully focused on the human rights front to expose the violation of Carlos Ghosn’s fundamental rights.