The French Prosecutor's Office has requested this Monday to impose a sentence of four years in prison and a five-year disqualification for former minister Rachida Dati, in the proceedings against her for alleged corruption and influence peddling. She is accused of having received up to 900,000 euros from the Renault-Nissan alliance between 2010 and 2012, a period in which she was a Member of the European Parliament, in exchange for exerting pressure within the European Parliament.
According to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF, for its initials in French), the request includes four years of prison, of which two should be served under house arrest with electronic bracelet monitoring, as well as the payment of a fine of 450,000 euros, as reported by the newspaper "Le Parisien".
The Public Prosecutor's Office also demands a five-year disqualification from holding public office, to be applied immediately. If the court supports this request, Dati would automatically lose the Mayor's office of the VII district of Paris and would also be barred from returning to the judicial career.
The accusation maintains that Dati – "formally accused in July 2021" – received a total of 900,000 euros between 2010 and 2012 from Renault-Nissan as legal advisory fees, while serving as a Member of the European Parliament (2009-2019), through the consortium's subsidiary in the Netherlands, RNBV.
The former minister, who held the Culture portfolio during President Emmanuel Macron's second term and previously was Minister of Justice in Nicolas Sarkozy's Government, is said to have received 300,000 euros annually in fees in exchange for carrying out lobbying work before the European Parliament on behalf of Renault-Nissan, taking advantage of "her real or perceived influence" as a Member of the European Parliament.
At the same time, the Prosecutor's Office requests a sentence of four years in prison and a financial penalty of 375,000 euros for the former CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, in addition to maintaining the international arrest warrant that has been in effect against him since 2023.
The businessman of Lebanese origin is being tried in absentia, as he has remained in Lebanon since he fled Japan in 2019, where he had been arrested for alleged embezzlement.