Dany Bahar, who spearheaded the relaunch of the ex-Renault Formula 1 team as Lotus, has been suspended from his role as chief executive officer of the automotive group.
A statement issued by Group Lotus parent company DRB Hicom confirmed the move today. Bahar had been due to attend the opening of a new Lotus Originals store in Monaco this afternoon, but canceled at the last minute.
"Group Lotus plc ("Lotus") can today confirm that, following an operational review, chief executive Dany Bahar has been temporarily suspended from his role to facilitate an investigation into a complaint about his conduct made by Lotus' penultimate parent company, DRB-Hicom Berhad," said the statement.
A spokesperson for DRB Hicom confirmed to the Norwich Evening News that "it is business as usual at Lotus" following Bahar's suspension.
According to Autocar, Dato' Lukman Ibrahim, Mohd Khalid Yusof and Aslam Farikulla have taken over the running of Lotus, with Rusman Zaihan assisting them.
The Lotus name first came back into F1 with the current Caterham team, which ran as first Lotus Racing and then Team Lotus in 2010 and 2011. Ahead of last season, Bahar agreed a deal for the car company to sponsor the ex-Renault team, which now competes as Lotus in F1.