French carmaker Renault is to bring a case against former CEO Carlos Ghosn after identifying €11 million ($12.4 million) of questionable expenses, the government said on Wednesday, in a new blow for the fallen tycoon as he awaits trial in Japan.
France holds a 15 per cent stake in Renault and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French television there would be a case against Ghosn by Renault over the expenses and the government would supply all the documents required.
The prospect of new legal action backed by France marks a new headache for the former Renault CEO, who was also Nissan chairman in the alliance with the Japanese carmaker, after his initial arrest in Tokyo in November.
Ghosn, who is a French citizen, was seen as a titan of the industry until his mounting legal troubles precipitated his spectacular fall.
“The [French] state will hand over all the elements to the judicial authorities and there will be a complaint,” Le Maire told BFM TV in an interview.
“The state will play its role fully as a Renault shareholder. When the state has a shareholding like it does in Renault, its role is to assure that [corporate] governance works well,” he added.
He said the conclusions of an internal audit carried out by Renault had uncovered “reprehensible” facts and it was now up to the judicial authorities to take the next decision.
‘Extra costs of air travel’
The internal audit conducted by Renault and Nissan identified €11 million of questionable expenses at their Dutch subsidiary RNBV linked to Ghosn.
“These findings confirmed the existence of deficiencies within RNBV in terms of financial transparency and procedures for monitoring expenditure,” Renault said in a statement late on Tuesday.
It said that the company was looking into legal action over Ghosn’s “extra costs of air travel” and other expenses “as well as exploring recovering from Mr Ghosn gifts made to some non-profit organisations”.
Any legal action would be in the Netherlands, where RNBV is based.
Reacting to the allegations stated by Renault, Ghosn’s French lawyer Jean-Yves Le Borgne lashed out at what he said was the opacity of the process, demanding access to all the documents.
“They talk about unjustified expenses but don’t tell us which ones,” he said.
“This audit needs to be analysed, discussed and Mr Ghosn needs to give his responses,” he added.