France: Police question Renault security managers on spy case

Reuters (Paris) - Two Renault (RENA.PA) security managers holding the identity of an informant who sparked a fast unravelling industrial espionage probe at the carmaker have been put in police custody on suspicion of fraud, judicial and police sources said.

Marc Tixador and Dominique Gevrey are being held for questioning at the offices of France's DCRI domestic intelligence agency, which is investigating the matter, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor told Reuters on Friday.

Renault said on Friday that, while it had "just learnt" that a judicial process was currently underway, it would only comment once the prosecutor had carried out its investigation.

"If injustice has been done, Renault will put it right," a Renault spokeswoman said. Renault fired three executives and lodged a legal complaint in January over suspected spying at its electric vehicle programme amid fears information was leaked to a foreign power, but the carmaker has since admitted it may have been tricked.

Renault's lawyer, Jean Reinhart, said earlier this week the carmaker did not know the identity of the informant and that it had asked the security managers to give the person's name and address to the investigators.

The two are "the only ones who know" the informant, he said.

The person who provided the information on which Renault based its legal claim is thought to be an independent private investigator whom the carmaker contacted through a then employee of private security company Geos. [ID:nLDE7102IA]

Reinhart also said the carmaker had paid more than 250,000 euros ($345,200) for the information, probably to an intermediary who had passed on all or part of it to the informant who provided the information.

The case strained relations between Renault, which is 15 percent state-owned, and the government, as it came under fire for not informing authorities of its suspicions soon enough. The case also threatened to spark a diplomatic spat after a possible link with China was suggested.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said last Friday that the carmaker must face "all the consequences" now that it thinks it might have been tricked.

Chief Operating Officer Patrick Pelata last week hinted that his own job may be at risk, when he said the company would accept all the consequences "up to the highest level of the company, that is to say up to myself".

The existence or not of bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein is a key part of the inquiry and information is expected to emerge from the official investigation shortly.

All three men have said they have done nothing wrong and are taking legal action against Renault.