Paris (AFP)

The former Minister of Justice Rachida Dati was indicted on July 22 for "passive corruption" and "concealment of abuse of power" in the investigation into his consulting services to the former CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance Carlos Ghosn, the national financial prosecutor's office said on Tuesday, confirming information from the Chained Duck.

The current LR mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris had initially escaped these prosecutions in November, after a first 16-hour interrogation of the investigating judges who then placed him under the intermediate status of assisted witness.

Nine months later, Ms. Dati was finally summoned for a day of interrogation and indictment for "passive corruption by a person invested with a public elective mandate within an international organization", in this case the European Parliament. where she was elected, and "concealment of abuse of power".

Joined by AFP, his lawyers Olivier Baratelli, Olivier Pardo and Francis Teitgen did not wish to react.

Three investigating judges have been in charge since the summer of 2019 of this investigation into contracts concluded by the Dutch subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan alliance, RNBV, with Rachida Dati and the criminologist Alain Bauer, when Carlos Ghosn was still CEO of the group. .

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 when she was also a Member of the European Parliament at the time.

A preliminary investigation had previously been opened by the PNF, after a complaint filed on April 17, 2019 by a Renault shareholder.

This complaint targeted Rachida Dati, Alain Bauer, but also Carlos Ghosn and his wife.

Justice seeks in particular to know if the income of Ms. Dati correspond to specific activities or if it was a job of convenience that may have masked lobbying activities, prohibited for MEPs.

Ms. Dati's defense team replies that no element of her remuneration has been concealed and that therefore the three-year limitation period for these offenses has been acquired since 2017. However, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) has not opened the judicial information only in 2019, after receiving a complaint from a Renault shareholder.

The lawyers also observe that neither the European Parliament, nor the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life, nor the public prosecutor have decided to prosecute her even though accusations of conflicts of interest against her have been relayed by the press between 2009 and 2015.

In March, Ms. Dati's lawyers formally asked the judges to note the statute of limitations.

But the magistrates not having followed their arguments, it is now up to the Court of Appeal to decide this question.

© 2021 AFP