Paris (AFP)
Threatened with indictment for corruption and influence peddling in particular, Rachida Dati was finally placed on Friday under the more favorable status of witness assisted in the investigation into his consulting services to the former magnate of the car Carlos Ghosn.
The investigating judges had summoned Thursday the former Minister of Justice for an indictment for "passive corruption" and "passive trading in influence of a person in charge of a public elective mandate in an international organization" as well as for "concealment of abuse of power", according to the national financial prosecutor's office (PNF).
On the night of Thursday to Friday, at the end of a fourteen-hour interrogation, the LR mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris was finally placed under the status of assisted witness, intermediate between those of simple witness and indicted.
"Rachida Dati was placed under the status of assisted witness because she demonstrated to the investigating judges that she had worked as a lawyer between 2009 and 2012 for the Renault-Nissan alliance", explained to AFP Me Olivier Pardo, who defends it with My Olivier Baratelli and Francis Teitgen.
"It's a first step," said Me Jean-Paul Baduel, lawyer for Renault shareholder Danièle Coutaz-Repland, who lodged a complaint on April 17, 2019 and urged the PNF to open an investigation.
This concerned contracts signed by RNBV, the Dutch subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan alliance, when Carlos Ghosn was still CEO of the automotive group.
This complaint targeted Rachida Dati, but also the criminologist Alain Bauer, Carlos Ghosn and his wife.
At the time, Me Baduel had reported "suspicions" of "the reckless use of Renault funds" by his ex-boss via this subsidiary.
The following summer, the rest of the investigations had been entrusted to three investigating judges from the Paris financial center.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Ms. Dati, who denies any irregularity, would have received 900,000 euros in fees as a lawyer between 2010 and 2012, while she was at the time also a Member of the European Parliament.
Alain Bauer would have received one million euros between 2012 and 2016 for security consultant activities, via his company AB Conseil.
- "Lobbying" -
Heard in September 2019 by the magistrates, Me Baduel had maintained his accusations, based on the results of the investigation - now closed - on the false spy case at Renault, to which he had access as a lawyer for one of the respondents.
In the context of this old case, searches were carried out at Renault, in particular in the office of Carlos Ghosn, at the end of 2011. However, according to a source close to the file, no evidence of the work of Rachida Dati had been found there. by investigators.
According to Le Monde, which published an article last September, the judges suspect a "use of convenience" of Ms. Dati.
"The police have not really found any concrete trace of his activity for Renault, except for a few actions akin to lobbying, moreover strictly prohibited for a MEP," wrote the daily.
According to the fee agreement addressed to Carlos Ghosn by Mrs. Dati, unveiled by Le Monde, the latter undertook to "assist him in determining the conduct of the group's international extension policy," in particular in countries of the Middle East and the Maghreb. "
She asked for strict confidentiality on this collaboration.
The names of Rachida Dati and Alain Bauer were also mentioned in an audit by Mazars, carried out at the request of Renault and Nissan to examine the disputed expenses of RNBV, which are the subject of another investigation. judicial process open to the Nanterre prosecutor's office.
This report, sent to justice, identified 11 million euros of suspicious spending by this 50-50 subsidiary between Renault and Nissan, created by Carlos Ghosn to embody the alliance of the two manufacturers.
© 2020 AFP