PARIS -- Carlos Ghosn, the former head of Renault and Nissan, said he was "surprised" to learn that French prosecutors had issued an international arrest warrant for him.
"This is surprising, Ghosn has always co-operated with French authorities," a spokesperson for Ghosn told Reuters on Friday.
The spokesperson was reacting after the The Wall Street Journal and French media reported that French prosecutors had issued international arrest warrants for Ghosn.
Five international arrest warrants for Ghosn and the current owners or former directors of the Omani company Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, a vehicle distributor in Oman, were issued by the investigative judge, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed on Friday.
Prosecutors allege that Ghosn funneled millions of dollars of Renault funds through the Omani car distributor for his personal use, including for the purchase of a luxury yacht and to pay for a lavish party he threw at the Versailles palace in 2014.
Ghosn’s arrest for financial wrongdoing by Tokyo prosecutors on Nov. 19, 2018 stunned the business community.
The architect of the Renault-Nissan auto alliance had lived a jet-set lifestyle with properties in Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Beirut before he was detained for months in a Tokyo custody center and under home arrest. He escaped from Japan to Lebanon hidden in a box aboard a private jet while on bail.
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Ghosn's main legal risks have largely shifted to France. French investigators have traveled to Beirut to question Ghosn over his interactions with the Omani car distributor and his spending on various events and trips.
'Imperial force'
An imperial force at Nissan since leading a turnaround behind a bailout from Renault in 1999, Ghosn made enemies in nearly two decades at the top of what became the one of the world’s biggest automotive alliances.
He denies any wrongdoing in the cases against him and remains in his childhood home of Lebanon and is living in a house that Nissan purchased for him. Ghosn is a legal citizen of of France, Brazil and Lebanon, which does not extradite citizens.
Ghosn most likely will never face trial in Lebanon, so the French warrants are another setback for his fight to clear his name. He claims to be the victim of a Japanese justice system that he says is unfair and presumes guilt.
Japanese officials say he would have had a fair trial if he had remained in Japan.
At the time of Ghosn's escape, he was awaiting trial on charges that he understated his compensation in Nissan's financial statements by 9.3 billion yen ($85 million) over a decade and enriched himself at his employer's expense through payments to car dealerships.
Ghosn does not rule out his traveling to France to face trial at some point, although the matter is complicated because Lebanon is in possession of his passports, the Journal reported, citing people close to Ghosn.
Bloomberg contributed to this report
