Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Renault, Nissan, and Mistubishi and current fugitive, has been issued another legal blow as French prosecutors issued arrest warrants for him and four other individuals accused of helping him commit financial misdeeds.
The others named in the French arrest warrants are Omani billionaire Suhail Bahwan, two of his sons, and an associate who allegedly helped Ghosn funnel millions of euros in Renault funds through their dealerships for Ghosn’s personal use, including the purchase of a 120-foot yacht, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The executive is living in Lebanon as an international fugitive in a house that was purchased for him by Nissan. The warrants are a blow to his reputation, though. Ghosn has long portrayed himself as the victim of an unfair Japanese justice system, though the country has long held that the executive would have been tried fairly if he had not fled. Ghosn was accused of underreporting his compensation there.
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Ghosn’s personal situation is unlikely to change as a result of the warrants. A citizen of Lebanon, France, and Brazil, the former auto executive is protected by the Middle Eastern country’s refusal to extradite its citizens.
Bahwan, meanwhile, is the owner of a conglomerate that owns dealerships in Oman that sell tens of thousands of Renault vehicles per year and has many ties to France. His daughter, who was not named in the arrest warrants, is the chairperson of the Omani French Friendship Association and is the holder of the French Legion d’Honneur.
