Rachida Dati on Trial Over €900,000 Renault-Nissan Payments
The Paris criminal court has opened the trial of Rachida Dati, who faces charges including passive corruption for receiving €900,000 from Renault-Nissan while serving as an MEP. The proceedings will scrutinize whether the payments were for legal services or concealed lobbying, with Carlos Ghosn, also implicated, notably absent from court.
The trial of former French justice and culture minister Rachida Dati began Wednesday before the Paris criminal court over allegations linked to €900,000 she received from RNBV, a Dutch subsidiary of the Renault-Nissan alliance, between 2009 and 2013 while she was a Member of the European Parliament. Dati faces charges of passive corruption, passive influence-peddling, and concealing abuse of power and breach of trust, allegations she denies.
The case centres on whether the payments were made for legitimate legal services or concealed lobbying activities, which were prohibited for MEPs at the time. Former Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who has lived in Lebanon since escaping Japan in 2019, is also being prosecuted in absentia for active corruption and influence-peddling in connection with the case.
Ghosn was absent from the opening hearing after asking for a postponement, citing improper service, while indicating that he was willing to participate by videoconference. Over six half-days of hearings scheduled through September 28, the court is expected to examine the relationship between Dati and Ghosn, the 2009 fee agreement and the nature and extent of the work allegedly carried out for RNBV.
Dati maintains that she acted solely as a lawyer and did not lobby Renault within the European Parliament, while her defence team has described the prosecution’s case as an “intellectual construct.”
Prosecutors and investigating magistrates, however, argue that the agreement was designed to disguise lobbying, citing what they describe as limited documentation supporting the legal services and remuneration they considered disproportionate, as well as three parliamentary questions Dati submitted in 2012 and 2013 concerning the automotive sector.
If convicted, Dati could face up to 10 years in prison, a €450,000 fine and a possible ban from holding public office, but she remains presumed innocent unless and until the court reaches a verdict.