Renault rejects talk of manipulation in spy case

Renault's lawyer said on Thursday authorities were still probing foreign bank accounts as part of a spying inquiry and dismissed reports saying the French carmaker had been tricked and that no accounts existed.

Renault fired three executives and lodged a legal complaint in January over suspicions of industrial espionage targeting its high-profile electric vehicle programme, amid fears that information had been passed to a foreign power.

The possible existence of foreign bank accounts was a key part of the case against the three men, all of whom say they have done nothing wrong and are taking legal action against Renault.

Media reports said Renault was preparing for several possible outcomes, including that investigators return empty handed, indicating it feared it might have been the victim of an internal plot and that the spying charges were invented.

Jean Reinhart, the French carmaker's lawyer, told Europe 1 radio on Thursday that French intelligence services were still investigating in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to find out whether the accounts existed or not.

"Nothing has come back to us for the moment, which means that this morning we are unable to say whether we have been manipulated or not," he said.

He added: "I refute the term 'manipulation'; we have no information that leads us in one way or another to say that the scenario of espionage does not exist."

Reports Renault had been tricked or manipulated surfaced after chief operating officer Patrick Pelata was received by Prime Minister Francois Fillon to discuss the case this week.

A Renault spokesperson said on Wednesday the company was preparing for several hypotheses. If no bank accounts were found in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, Renault would still want to know what had happened.

"In any case Renault will be a victim," she said.

 The case threatened to spark a diplomatic spat when news of the sackings 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.

The scandal also strained relations between Renault, which is 15% 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.