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Agence France-Presse

French authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for disgraced former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, who has lived in Lebanon since his daring getaway from Japan in 2019.
The warrant, issued on Thursday, relates to suspect payments of some €15 million (US$16.3 million) between the Renault-Nissan alliance that Ghosn once headed and its dealer in Oman, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), prosecutors said on Friday.
The allegations against Ghosn, 68, include misuse of company assets, money laundering and corruption.
The car tycoon – who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian passports – was initially due to stand trial in Japan, following his detention there in 2018, but he jumped bail and fled to Lebanon.


The international arrest warrant issued on Thursday by a court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre is a strong message to Lebanon, which does not extradite its citizens and has banned Ghosn from leaving its territory.
If the warrant is carried out, Ghosn will be summoned before a judge in Nanterre and formally indicted.
The French probe centres on suspect financial dealings between Renault-Nissan’s Dutch subsidiary RNBV and SBA, consultancy work involving RNBV and a former government minister, and lavish parties organised at the Versailles Palace in France.
One of Ghosn’s lawyers, Jean Tamalet, said the French warrant was “very surprising because the investigating judge and the Nanterre prosecutor know perfectly well that Carlos Ghosn, who has always cooperated with justice, is subject to a judicial ban on leaving Lebanese territory”.
Inside Carlos Ghosn’s audacious escape from Japan
The investigating judge in Nanterre has also issued arrest warrants for the SBA company founder, his two sons and the former director general, sources close to the case told Agence France-Presse. The four are suspected of corruption and money laundering.
SBA founder Suhail Bahwan “formally denies having taken any part in the offences covered by the arrest warrant”, said his lawyer, Christophe Ingrain.
Renault, which is a civil party in the case, said it “took note” of the Nanterre prosecutors’ move.
“This is a major development which can be explained in part by the severity of new information that has come to light … concerning hidden financial dealings worth several million euros between Carlos Ghosn and SBA’s founders and bosses,” Renault lawyer Kami Haeri said.

The Ghosn saga has grabbed headlines worldwide.
In November 2018, Ghosn – then boss of Nissan and head of an alliance between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors – was detained in Japan on suspicion of financial misconduct along with his top aide, Greg Kelly. They both denied wrongdoing.
In December 2019 as he awaited trial, Ghosn was smuggled out of Japan on a private plane, hidden in an audio equipment case, and flown to Beirut.
He justified his escape to Lebanon by saying he did not believe he would get a fair trial in Tokyo. Ghosn also accused Nissan of colluding with prosecutors to have him arrested in a “palace coup” because he had sought to strengthen the Japanese firm’s alliance with Renault.
Japan convicts Greg Kelly over helping ex-Nissan boss hide income
In 2020 Interpol issued a “red notice”, advising Beirut that Ghosn was a fugitive from Japan and was wanted by the Tokyo authorities for prosecution. Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan, has not arrested him.
Ghosn is respected in Lebanon for his entrepreneurial skills and gives lectures at the Saint-Esprit de Kaslik University near Beirut. But he remains discreet and steers clear of commenting on the country’s political and economic upheavals.
French officials have twice travelled to Beirut during their investigations, questioning Ghosn in 2021.

Meanwhile, his former aide Kelly was last month handed a six-month suspended sentence by a Tokyo court over allegations he helped Ghosn attempt to conceal income.
Prosecutors had sought two years in prison for Kelly, accusing him of helping Ghosn under-report his income to the tune of 9.1 billion yen (US$79 million) between 2010 and 2018. The court only found Kelly guilty for the financial year 2017.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Parisien in February, Ghosn hit out at what he said was a “stab in the back by the French government and the Renault board of directors”.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire declined on Friday to comment on the latest developments, telling BFMTV/RMC radio: “Let justice take its course.”


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Nissan

International arrest warrant for ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn issued by French prosecutors

Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn speaks during a press conference in Jounieh, Lebanon in September 2020. Photo: AFP

A house identified by court documents as belonging to former Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA chairman Carlos Ghosn is seen in Beirut, Lebanon on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly arrives at Tokyo district court to receive his verdict in March. Photo: AFP

Carlos Ghosn bets on China economy, calls on Japan to fix ‘outdated’ justice system

Carlos Ghosn was credited with turning around Renault and Nissan from near bankruptcy. File photo: AFP

Fugitive former car executive Carlos Ghosn, gestures as he sits next to his wife Carole Ghosn, during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

American father and son jailed in Japan over former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn’s ‘brazen escape’

Former US special forces member Michael Taylor (right) with his son, Peter. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this May 25, 2021, file photo, Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Dbayeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon. The trial in Tokyo of two Americans charged with helping Ghosn flee Japan wrapped up Friday, July 2, 2021 with prosecutors seeking prison terms of more than two years for each of them. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Carlos Ghosn escape: Turkey sentences pilots, airline official for role in smuggling him from Japan

Turkish pilot Noyan Pasin speaks to media after he and two others received jail sentences for their role in helping smuggle former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn to Lebanon. Photo: AFP

A man walks past the entrance to Istanbul's court Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, where the case of a Turkish private airline official and two pilots over their involvement in former Nissan Motor Co. chairman Carlos Ghosn's dramatic escape out of Japan in 2019 and to Beirut, Lebanon, was held. The court convicted a Turkish private airline official and two pilots and sentenced them each to four years and two months in prison .Ghosn, who was arrested over financial misconduct allegations in Tokyo in 2018, skipped bail while awaiting trial there. (AP Photo/Mehmet Guzel)

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2020, file photo, former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn holds a press conference at the Maronite Christian Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, as he launches an initiative to help Lebanon that is undergoing a severe economic and financial crisis, in Kaslik, north of Beirut, Lebanon. Former Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told a Japanese court Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, he believed the compensation for his predecessor Carlos Ghosn was too low “by international standards,” and so he supported Ghosn’s retirement packages to prevent him from leaving. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

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The disgraced car tycoon has been living in Lebanon since he fled Japan in 2019, where he was facing trial for financial misconduct
The French warrant is a strong message to Lebanon, which does not extradite its citizens and has banned Ghosn from leaving its territory



The disgraced car tycoon has been living in Lebanon since he fled Japan in 2019, where he was facing trial for financial misconduct.


International arrest warrant for ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn issued by French prosecutors

The disgraced car tycoon has been living in Lebanon since he fled Japan in 2019, where he was facing trial for financial misconduct The French warrant is a strong message to Lebanon, which does not extradite its citizens and has banned Ghosn from leaving its territory

The disgraced car tycoon has been living in Lebanon since he fled Japan in 2019, where he was facing trial for financial misconduct

The French warrant is a strong message to Lebanon, which does not extradite its citizens and has banned Ghosn from leaving its territory