France issues arrest warrants for Brazilian Carlos Ghosn, says WSJ

French prosecutors issued international arrest warrants to arrest Brazilian executive Carlos Ghosn, as well as four other people believed to be involved with a car dealership in Oman.

The group is suspected of having embezzled thousands of euros from the automaker Renault, according to people familiar with the matter. The information comes from The Wall Street Journal.

Sources interviewed by the publication said that Ghosn, the former president of Renault, allegedly embezzled thousands of euros through a car dealership in the Arab country of Oman for his personal use.

A spokeswoman for Ghosn declined to comment on the arrest warrants.

In November 2018, the executive, then chairman of the board of directors of Japanese automaker Nissan, was arrested in Japan for alleged financial violations in the country.

He was also head of an alliance of three automakers: Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Ghosn fled a trial on financial wrongdoing charges from Japan to Lebanon in December 2019 while hiding in a boom box.

The arrest warrant is unlikely to change the personal situation of Ghosn, who has remained in Lebanon as an international fugitive since escaping Japan. The country has no extradition treaty with Japan, so Ghosn was allowed to remain in the country, of which he is a citizen.

The executive was born in Porto Velho (RO) and moved with his family to Lebanon at the age of six. He has Brazilian, Lebanese and French nationalities.

Either way, the warrants are another nice blow to Ghosn’s reputation. He claims to be a victim of an unfair Japanese justice system.