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France's ex-Justice Minister Rachida Dati in the 2020 mayoral election
Photo: PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP
A preliminary investigation has been initiated against the former French Justice Minister Rachida Dati on suspicion of "passive bribery" and "concealment of abuse of office".
As the finance prosecutor announced on Tuesday in Paris, it is about advisory services of the ex-minister for the former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn at a time when she was a member of the EU Parliament.
The current mayor of Paris' VII district was first questioned for 16 hours in November by investigative judges, who then treated her as a witness with legal counsel.
Initially, she was spared the initiation of an investigation.
Nine months later, Dati was summoned again for an interrogation, which led to the initiation of a preliminary investigation.
Consultant fees of 900,000 euros
Since the summer of 2019, three investigating judges have been investigating contracts that Renault-Nissan's Dutch subsidiary, RNBV, had concluded with Dati and the French criminologist Alain Bauer when Ghosn was still the head of the group.
According to information from investigators, Dati, which rejects any irregularities, should have received consultancy fees of 900,000 euros between 2010 and 2012.
At that time she was also a member of the EU Parliament.
Above all, the judges want to find out whether the income is related to specific services or whether it was a favor deal with the aim of disguising lobbying activities that MEPs are not allowed to do.
During the tenure of President Nicolas Sarkozy, Dati was Minister of Justice from 2007 to 2009.
mjm / AFP