A week before the decisive round of the presidential elections in France, the authorities are investigating allegations of corruption against the right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen. The Paris public prosecutor’s office confirmed on Sunday that they had already received a report from the EU anti-corruption agency OLAF in March and are evaluating it.
140,000 euros embezzled?
The online medium Mediapart reported on Saturday that President Emmanuel Macron’s opponent was accused of embezzling 140,000 euros of public funds in the report. Members of their Rassemblement National party are said to have diverted a total of 617,000 euros. According to the report, the politicians are not accused of taking personal advantage, but they are said to have paid for staff costs and events with EU funds.
No comment was initially available from Le Pen’s office. Her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, told broadcaster BFM TV that his client denied the allegations. She has not yet been questioned by the public prosecutor. Neither he nor Le Pen saw the OLAF report.
“The French will not be fooled by attempts by the European Union and the European institutions (…) to interfere in the presidential election campaign and harm Marine Le Pen,” deputy party leader Jordan Bardella told the Europe 1 broadcaster lodge a complaint against OLAF over the report. Le Pen has been under investigation since 2017 for alleged misuse of EU funds to pay parliamentary assistants.
In the first round of the presidential election a week ago, Macron prevailed over Le Pen and other candidates. Both will face the decisive runoff next Sunday.
Source: Nachrichten
