PARIS -- Renault moved to scrap former CEO Carlos Ghosn's 765,000 euro ($859,000) annual pension, people with knowledge of the matter said, as the automaker is drawn deeper into the financial misconduct scandal engulfing its alliance with Nissan.
Renault's board on Wednesday also agreed to ask shareholders at the automaker's annual meeting on June 12 to block 224,000 euros in Ghosn's variable pay for 2018, the sources said.
Last week, Renault alerted French prosecutors after uncovering suspect payments to a Renault-Nissan business partner in Oman while Ghosn was CEO.
Ghosn was forced out as Renault chairman and CEO in January. He notified the board in his resignation letter that he was entitled to draw his pension, said one of the people close to Renault. "But his lawyers got it wrong," the source said after Wednesday's board meeting.
Following his resignation, Renault’s board scrapped 30 million euros in deferred and severance pay to Ghosn. He won’t benefit from a non-compete agreement he signed with Renault in 2015 and stock-based compensation that was conditional on his staying at the company.
Ghosn is awaiting trial in Japan on charges including failure to declare $82 million in Nissan pay he had arranged to receive after retirement.
Ghosn will quit the company's board along with long-serving director Philippe Lagayette and Cherie Blair, the wife of British former prime minister Tony Blair while Annette Winkler, the former head of Daimler's Smart brand, will be proposed as a new director, Bloomberg reported.
Renault's directors on Wednesday approved governance changes reducing the size of the board to 18 members from 20, sources said.
A Renault spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing.
Bloomberg contributed to this report
