Search at Renault linked to ex-chief’s Versailles dinner

PARIS – French investigators are searching the headquarters of Renault as part of a probe linked to the financing of former chairman Carlos Ghosn’s 2016 marriage reception at the Chateau of Versailles.

The group confirmed that a search at its headquarters outside Paris began about 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) Wednesday and that it was “fully co-operating.”

Renault had alerted judicial authorities in February after an internal investigation showed that Ghosn had personally benefited from a philanthropic deal with Versailles. The chateau valued the use of space for the lavish dinner at the royal estate in Oct. 2016 at 50,000 euros, saying it was a legal counterpart to the 2.3 million-euro deal.

Ghosn was arrested in November in Japan on charges of understating his income at Japanese carmaker Nissan, which he also led.