Former Renault boss Carlos Ghosn rejected any responsibility for the “
Dieselgate
”
scandal
when he was heard at the end of May in Lebanon by French investigating judges, according to the hearing consulted by AFP on Monday.
In this scandal, revealed in 2015, Renault, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Citroën were indicted in May and June by judges from the public health department of the Paris court.
Fiat Chrysler is also threatened with possible legal action.
Manufacturers are accused of having deceived the emission tests of diesel vehicles.
Read also: First meeting between Carlos Ghosn and French justice
Carlos Ghosn, implicated by investigators at the start of the investigations, was questioned on May 26 as a witness by three Parisian judges who came to hear him in Beirut, where he has been living since his flight from Japan at the end of 2019. For more than six hours, he mainly passed on to his collaborators, assuring that he delegated the management of motor problems because of his incompetence in the matter and his other responsibilities.
Carlos Ghosn responsible according to the Repression of Fraud
"
In no case have we skimped on compliance with standards,
" said Mr. Ghosn, defending the reputation of the company under his management (2005-2019), during his hearing unveiled in early July by Le Monde.
"
There were sometimes problems due to lack of skills or performance, but nothing that could come close to what is reproached to other manufacturers, the desire to knowingly hide results,
" said the man. Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian affairs.
On the technical choices, Mr. Ghosn referred the magistrates to his “
directors of operations
”.
Read also: How Nissan organized the fall of Carlos Ghosn
The manufacturers are accused of having deceived the antipollution controls by resorting to electronic systems making the operation of the engine less polluting in the test phase than in real traffic conditions. The responsibility of Carlos Ghosn was pointed out in November 2016, in the initial report of the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF). The latter considered that "
the entire chain of management
" of the group, up to its CEO at the time, was involved, since, in the eyes of the gendarme de Bercy, "
no delegation of power was established by Carlos Ghosn
”, which took its own responsibility.
