Rachida Dati, France’s Culture Minister and mayor of Paris’s 7th arrondissement, goes on trial Wednesday on charges of corruption and influence peddling linked to a €900,000 contract with Renault-Nissan, in a case that also implicates former auto executive Carlos Ghosn.
A Long-Running Investigation
The case dates back nearly six years, when Dati was first placed under assisted witness status. She was subsequently indicted in the “Renault-Nissan” affair, a development that did not prevent her appointment to the government as Culture Minister in January 2024.
The trial, which opens Wednesday, will determine whether the conditions under which Dati received payments from the automotive group were legal. Prosecutors suspect she entered into a corrupt agreement and illegally lobbied the European Parliament on behalf of the carmaker between October 2009 and February 2013, while serving as an elected MEP.
Origins of the Case
The disputed contract came into the hands of French justice authorities in the summer of 2019 during a search of Renault’s headquarters, following Carlos Ghosn’s arrest in Japan in a separate case that brought down the powerful Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian executive.
At the heart of the matter lies a single question: was Dati paid €900,000 — €300,000 per year — for genuine consulting work as a lawyer, or did the sum constitute a fictitious job designed to conceal lobbying activities that are prohibited for sitting members of the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg?
Dati Denies Wrongdoing
When she was indicted, Dati contested any illegality. “Everything was always declared and verified. I provided all the evidence of my work,” she said at the time, adding that Renault “is neither a complainant nor a victim, and no public money is at stake.”
She characterized the decision as politically motivated, taken in the summer of 2021 when she was considering a run in the right-wing primary for the 2022 presidential election.
Stakes and Potential Penalties
Since the former justice minister lost the Paris municipal elections, the political stakes of the trial have diminished somewhat. However, Dati is still fighting for her position as mayor of the 7th arrondissement. She faces a potential sentence of ten years in prison, a €450,000 fine, and a period of ineligibility from public office.
Carlos Ghosn, who is also charged in the case, will not appear before the criminal court.
