Overview

• A 'fixing' hearing in Paris on Monday will set the calendar for the corruption and influence‑peddling trial of Rachida Dati and Carlos Ghosn, with two sources indicating dates could fall after the March 15 and 22 municipal votes.
• Dati has been referred to criminal court on counts including concealment of abuse of power and breach of trust, corruption and passive influence‑peddling linked to about €900,000 in alleged RNBV consulting payments from 2010 to 2012 under a 2009 fee agreement.
• Investigating judges say her activities as a European Parliament member resembled lobbying incompatible with her mandate and the legal profession.
• Ghosn is charged in the same case with abuse of power, breach of trust, corruption and active influence‑peddling, and he remains in Lebanon under an April 2023 international arrest warrant after leaving Japan in 2019.
• Both defendants contest the allegations, and Dati’s legal troubles carry electoral stakes after she won Les Républicains’ backing to lead the Paris municipal campaign, with a separate probe examining possible non‑declaration of luxury jewelry.