Renault paid for information that led to EV spying complaint

nd us a Letter to the Editor

PARIS (Reuters) -- Renault paid 250,000 euros ($347,200) for information that sparked a probe into suspected industrial espionage, its lawyer said.

Company executives don't know the identity of the person who sold information to the carmaker, Renault's lawyer Jean Reinhart told Reuters earlier today.

Renault fired three executives and lodged a legal complaint in January over suspected spying at its electric vehicle program but has since admitted it may have been tricked.

The carmaker wants its two security managers -- the only people who know the informant's identity -- to give the details to French police, Reinhart said.

He confirmed that Renault had paid around 250,000 euros for the information, probably to an intermediary who had passed on all or part of it to the informant.

"Renault does not know the identity of the informant," Reinhart said. "We have asked our two security managers, who are the only ones who know, to give this person's name and address to the investigators."

French media had previously reported the two were refusing to reveal the person's name, while a police source said France's DCRI domestic intelligence agency, which is investigating the matter, had repeatedly interviewed them in recent days.

Renault had in January asked all employees to cooperate completely with the investigators, Reinhart said.

COO's job at risk

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

The case strained relations between Renault, which is 15 percent state-owned, and the government, as the carmaker came under fire for not informing authorities of its suspicions soon enough and carrying out its own investigation first amid fears information had been leaked to a foreign power.

Bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein are a key part of the inquiry and information on whether or not they exist is expected to emerge from the official investigation shortly.

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

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 case threatened to spark a diplomatic spat when news of the firings broke in January, after a government source said investigators were following up a possible link with China in initial probes before a formal inquiry was launched.

Renault and the government both played down the China talk.