French prosecutors have issued an international arrest warrant for disgraced auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn, who fled Japan in 2019 for Lebanon in a gripping escape.

Nanterre prosecutors' office in France said Friday that the arrest warrant for the former head of Nissan and Renault is among five issued by them.

The Ghosn warrant is based on an investigation opened in 2019 into money laundering and abuse of company assets reportedly over millions in alleged suspect payments made between the Renault-Nissan alliance and Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), a vehicle distributor company in Oman owned by billionaire Suhail Bahwan.

The Nanterre prosecutors' office described this as the next step in a two-year investigation, one of two separate cases involving Ghosn in France focusing on payments made to SBA.

The former head of the Nissan-Renault alliance fled to Lebanon in late 2019, while out on bail facing financial misconduct charges in Japan.

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In an interview last year, Ghosn was confident, energized and determined to fight to restore his reputation.

A statement sent to Associated Press Friday from his PR team called the French warrant "surprising."

"This is not an arrest warrant issued by France but by the Nanterre prosecutor's office in an investigation still in progress," it said.

The statement also suggested that the warrant was ineffective as Ghosn "is subject to a judicial ban on leaving Lebanese territory," where he currently resides.

Lebanon does not extradite its citizens. Ghosn has citizenship in Lebanon, France and Brazil.

+Additional reporting AP