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OPINION

Eye on France: More twists in Game of Ghosn

All the latest in the long-running millionaire mystery series, as two former Sarkozy intimates... including Rachida Dati... find themselves under police investigation for work done for Carlos Ghosn's Dutch subsidiary.

Rachida Dati, former French justice minister, now helping the police with their enquiries.
Rachida Dati, former French justice minister, now helping the police with their enquiries. AFP / Eric Feferberg
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Youā€™ll remember Carlos Ghosn, one-time boss of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi motor empire, former Lord of the Universe?

Late last year, the wheels started to come off his chariot when someone suggested to the Japanese police that Carlos might not have correctly declared his income in the company accounts.

They donā€™t like that kind of thing in Japan because, apart from being devious and dishonest, it tends to undermine business confidence. Frankly, not what you expect from chaps in fancy Italian suits.

And then there was the additional suggestion that Carlos the boss might have been siphoning-off a certain amount of company petty cash for his own use.

Ghosn ended up doing several months in a Tokyo jail. Following a lot of protesting and proclaiming, and one change of legal team, heā€™s been out on bail since April, wearing an electronic bracelet the size of a Pajero. Thereā€™s a police dog chained to his left leg.

Thatā€™s the good news.

According to todayā€™s Le Monde newspaper, an internal audit carried out by Renault-Nissan has revealed the existence of a financial black hole worth about 11 million euros in the company accounts.

ā€œQuestionable expenditureā€ is the polite expression for this sort of discrepancy.

The Renault bolt-tighteners launched the audit as part of their effort to clinch a partnership deal with Fiat Chrysler. Now theyā€™re suggesting that legal action might need to be undertaken against a Dutch-based company, created by Carlos Ghosn, and suspected of having been used by him to skim off millions of Renault euros for his personal benefit.

Same old, same old, I hear you muttering.

But no. This leaves Game of Groans in the cheap seats. Todayā€™s Le Figaro informs us that the troubles of Carlos and Renault have now sucked in a couple of other big names.

The French national financial court yesterday launched an investigation into contracts involving the lawyer, former Sarkozy minister and current Eurodeputy, Rachida Dati, to find out exactly what she did to earn the 2,600,000 euros paid to her by Ghosnā€™s Dutch subsidiary between 2010 and 2013.

Her lawyer says his client is as pure as the driven snow. This was no cooked-up consultancy; Rachida worked for Carlos as a lawyer, helping to advance the interests of Renault-Nissan in north Africa and the Middle East. She declared every last centime and is calmly helping the police with their enquiries.

Her lawyer is also keen to remind us that there is something fishy about the timing of this case, since Rachida Dati has just launched her bid for a post in Paris in the up-coming municipal elections.

The other name to go into the police note book this week is that of Alain Bauer, a criminologist and security specialist, who used to be Nicolas Sarkozyā€™s informal advisor. He joined the Renault-Nissan team in 2011, when Carlos Ghosn was worried that there were spies in the woodwork, notably trying to get their graspers on Renaultā€™s electric car technology. Although Bauer was working as a security consultant for Renault, he was paid one million euros by the shadowy Ghosn operation in Holland.

Apparently, neither that million, nor Rachidaā€™s 2.6 million, are included in the 11 million already mentioned.

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