Nanterre (AFP)

Nearly a year after the opening of a preliminary investigation into suspicions of abuse of social property at Renault targeting in particular its ex-boss Carlos Ghosn, the Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) prosecution announced Wednesday that it had transmitted the investigation to an examining magistrate.

This judicial information was notably opened "for abuse of corporate property, aggravated breach of trust, forgery and use, aggravated laundering of abuse of corporate property (...)" for acts committed between 2009 and 2020, specifies the prosecution in a statement.

The former boss of the Renault-Nissan alliance is suspected of having organized two private parties at the Palace of Versailles, in exchange for a sponsorship agreement signed between the brand with the diamond and the establishment which manages the castle .

Justice suspects the first party, organized on March 9, 2014, to have taken place in honor of the 60 years of the deposed boss and not to celebrate the fifteen years of the Renault-Nissan alliance.

According to an internal audit commissioned by Renault, 94 of the 154 guests at this banquet supervised by chef Alain Ducasse were close to the businessman (children, sisters, cousins, friends ...), mainly of origin Lebanese.

Carlos Ghosn is also suspected of having obtained the rental of the Grand Trianon, in the castle grounds, for the organization in October 2016 of his marriage to Carole Ghosn, a service valued at 50,000 euros.

The sponsorship agreement signed between Renault and the Palace of Versailles, in the amount of 2.3 million euros, authorized the car manufacturer to receive a consideration of 25% of its patronage.

The former big boss, 65, is also in the sights of the central office to fight corruption and financial and fiscal offenses (Oclciff) for "suspicious financial flows" between Renault and the manufacturer's distributor French automobile in Oman, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA).

Another judicial investigation is already underway, in Paris, for acts of "abuse of corporate assets" and "passive corruption". It relates to contracts signed by RNBV, the Dutch 50-50 subsidiary between Nissan and Renault supposed to embody the alliance, when Carlos Ghosn was the CEO.

The LR candidate for mayor of Paris Rachida Dati and criminology Alain Bauer have received around one million euros each for advisory missions of which no trace has been found.

Carlos Ghosn has also been the subject of four charges by the Japanese justice system, in particular for breach of trust and embezzlement. He fled to Lebanon in late December, when he was released on bail and was preparing for his trial in Japan where he was arrested in November 2018.

© 2020 AFP