Corruption Trial Opens in Paris Over Renault-Nissan Payments to Rachida Dati

Former French justice minister Rachida Dati stood trial in Paris on Wednesday over a $1M consulting deal with ex-Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who failed to appear.

Paris Court Moves Forward Despite Ghosn's Absence

A corruption trial involving former French justice minister Rachida Dati and ex-Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn opened Wednesday at the Paris Criminal Court, Courthouse News Service reports — though only one of the two defendants was present.

Dati, who has served as mayor of Paris's 7th arrondissement since 2008, arrived at court to face charges of passive corruption and abuse of power. Ghosn, her absent co-defendant, did not appear. He has not left Lebanon since 2019, when he made international headlines by fleeing house arrest in Japan hidden inside a music equipment box.

Ghosn's lawyer, Jean Tannous, formally requested a postponement of the trial, which is scheduled to run through Sept. 28. Ghosn claimed he had not received the summons or subsequent reminders the court had been sending to Lebanon since July 2025.

The court weighed three options: proceed with the existing case file, postpone to a later date, or declare the summons invalid and separate Dati's case from Ghosn's. After an hours-long debate, the presiding judge decided to move forward with the case as filed.

A $1 Million Contract With No Paper Trail

At the center of the case is a consulting contract Dati signed in 2009 with Ghosn on behalf of Renault-Nissan BV, a subsidiary of the Renault Group, for legal and consulting services. Between 2010 and 2012 — while Dati held a seat in the European Parliament — the subsidiary transferred her approximately $1 million. Investigators have found no documentation detailing what work, if any, was performed in exchange.

"The conviction could potentially come from the fact that Ms. Dati was paid and no specific work resulted from it, despite the alleged production of reports, studies or other materials that were supposed to be done, and she defends herself by claiming there is a professional secrecy," said Jean-François Kerléo, a professor of public law at Aix-Marseille University and co-founder of the Public Ethics Observatory. "Frankly, that is completely implausible."

Kerléo added that the court's central challenge will be establishing a "cause-and-effect" relationship between the money Dati received and any influence she may have exercised in Parliament. The absence of legal documents and reports, he noted, could point toward a quid pro quo arrangement.

Courtroom Tensions Over Proceeding Without Ghosn

Before the judge's ruling to proceed, lawyers clashed over whether a fair trial was possible without Ghosn present.

Jérome Karsenti, representing anti-corruption organization Anticor — one of the plaintiffs in the case alongside the Renault Group and Transparency International — argued against any delay. "Time is always the friend of the corrupt; the more time passes, the more the justice system is removed from the facts and tends to be lenient," he said.

Olivier Baratelli, one of Dati's lawyers, made clear his client wanted the proceedings to go ahead. "Ms. Dati wants to be judged, and she wants to be judged because she wants to be acquitted … we'll leave the big door of this courtroom with an acquittal!" he declared, gesturing toward the exit. "We're going to defend [as best as] we can … in the absence of [Ghosn's] writing, in the absence of his explications."

Dati sat motionless at the front of the courtroom and did not turn to watch the lawyers argue.

Charges and Potential Penalties

Investigators first scrutinized Ghosn in 2018, when Japanese authorities arrested him for allegedly failing to report tens of millions of dollars in financial earnings. That arrest prompted a Renault shareholder to file a complaint in 2019 with the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office, alleging corruption, misuse of company assets and receiving stolen goods.

Ghosn now faces charges of active corruption, active influence peddling, abuse of power and breach of trust. A conviction could result in up to 10 years in prison and a fine of approximately $430,000.

Dati, who maintains her innocence, faces equally severe consequences if found guilty: up to 10 years in prison, a fine of roughly $500,000, and a potential five-year ban from holding public office — a penalty that would end her current role as district mayor.

Source: Courthouse News Service