The French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, is being prosecuted for suspicion of corruption and abuse of power. Investigations in Paris decided on Tuesday that she must answer to the court. That reports the French newspaper Le Monde Tuesday.
Between 2007 and 2009, the 59-year-old Dati was already Minister of Justice in the right-wing government of President Nicolas Sarkozy. She has also expressed the ambition to become mayor of Paris next year.
The investigation focuses on payments that Dati would have received between 2010 and 2012 from RNBV, the Dutch subsidiary of Renault-Nissan. In total it concerns around 900,000 euros for consultancy work. According to the judiciary, she never actually delivered those services, but instead lobbyed for the car concerner.
In that period, Dati was both a lawyer and a member of the European Parliament (2009-2019). Lobbying is forbidden for MEPs. Dati denies all allegations and has made several – so far unsuccessful – attempts to dismantle the case by legal road. She speaks of false accusations.
Carlos Ghosn
In addition to Rachida Dati, former Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn (71) is also mentioned in the case. He is also suspected of corruption and abuse of power. Ghosn has been living in Lebanon since the end of 2019, after he managed to escape from Tokyo in a spectacular way, where he was detained for more than a year on suspicion of financial misconduct. At the time, he was smuggled out of the land in a box for sound equipment and flew to Lebanon with a private jet.
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