PARIS — French Culture Minister Rachida Dati and former Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn will face trial on charges of corruption, a Ministry of Justice official confirmed.Dati is being charged with “passive corruption and influence peddling by a person holding elective public office within an international organization (in this case, the European Parliament),” the official, who was granted anonymity in accordance with standard practice for reporting on certain criminal cases, said in a statement.
Ghosn, who is considered a fugitive by both France and Japan after his daring escape from Tokyo in 2019, is accused of “abuse of power by a company executive,” “breach of trust” and “active corruption and influence peddling.”
The statement claims that Dati received €900,000 between 2010 and 2012 from a Renault subsidiary, officially for consultancy work. However, investigators allege she performed little or no actual consulting and was instead paid to use her position at the time as a member of the European Parliament to lobby on behalf of Renault and its then-chairman.
The current culture minister, who previously served as justice minister under former president Nicolas Sarkozy, was placed under formal investigation in July 2021.
Tuesday’s announcement comes at a high-stakes moment for Dati. The 59-year-old former judge is likely to run for mayor of Paris next year and is considering standing in an upcoming by-election against former prime minister Michel Barnier to represent a section of Paris in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament.
A representative for Dati did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment. The minister has previously denied any wrongdoing in the case. Ghosn’s lawyer also did not immediately return POLITICO’s request for comment.
Ghosn has been living in Lebanon since fleeing house arrest in Japan in 2019, where he faced charges of financial misconduct. Ghosn has both Lebanese and French citizenship.
A warrant for Ghosn’s arrest in relation to this case was issued by the French justice system in 2023, but Lebanon has historically refused to extradite its nationals.
The post French culture minister and fugitive former auto exec to face corruption trial appeared first on Politico.
