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PARIS (Reuters) – Renault is investigating a sponsorship deal with the Palace of Versailles, which provided a personal benefit of 50,000 euros for its former president Carlos Ghosn, who was hit by the scandal, said Thursday the manufacturer.
FILE PHOTO: Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, speaks after the presentation of Renault's 2015 annual results at the head office in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, on February 12, 2016. REUTERS / Benoit Tessier / Photo File
The company is now planning to alert prosecutors, he said in a statement, confirming a previous report published in Le Figaro.
Renault's sponsorship of the renovation works in Versailles also included the rental of the Grand Trianon Palace for the 2016 Ghosn Wedding Reception, the French daily reported.
The automaker replaced Ghosn as chairman of the board on Jan. 24, more than two months after his arrest in Japan following charges of financial misconduct at Nissan, a 43.4 percent-owned Renault subsidiary.
Renault is conducting an internal investigation into his own payments to Ghosn following his arrest. Until now, he had not yet reported any financial irregularities.
The investigation "revealed that Mr. Ghosn had enjoyed a personal benefit worth 50,000 euros under a sponsorship deal with the Palace of Versailles," said Renault Thursday.
"Renault has decided to bring these findings to the attention of the judicial authorities," he said.
Ghosn remains in detention in Japan with a limited opportunity to respond publicly to the allegations against him.
The wedding reception held on October 8, 2016 by Ghosn and his second wife, Carole, drew public attention for his opulence and his costumes on the theme of Marie Antoinette.
The ethics committee of Renault was informed Wednesday of this discovery, as reported by the newspaper, told Reuters an informed source.
Report by Laurence Frost; Edited by Richard Lough
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