French carmaker Renault said Wednesday that a joint Renault-Nissan audit of their Dutch subsidiary RNBV had raised "serious questions" over millions of euros in expenses incurred by ousted CEO Carlos Ghosn. "Certain expenses which have yet to be precisely quantified, but may amount to several million euros since 2010, raise serious questions as to their conformity with RNBV's corporate interest," Renault's board of directors said in a statement.
The statement said that "RNBV's internal organisation suggests serious deficiencies in terms of financial transparency and expenditure control procedures." The board had asked Renault's management to work with Renault's alliance partner Nissan "to jointly remedy these deficiencies as soon as possible," it added. The statement came amid reports in Japan that prosecutors there were considering bringing further charges against Ghosn, who spent more than three months in custody on charges of financial misconduct involving both his pay and Nissan's accounts.
He denies the charges. The reports said that investigators were reportedly eyeing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least $32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman in transactions that reportedly involved Amsterdam-based RNBV. Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a yacht allegedly used by Ghosn, 65, and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.