France’s Fillon hit by fresh expenses scandal
FRENCH presidential hopeful Francois Fillon yesterday faced fresh allegations of misusing public funds following claims that his wife had been paid for a fake parliamentary job.
French investigative website Mediapart reported that Fillon had pocketed money personally while a member of the Senate, which he left in 2007.
The website estimated he had siphoned off about ß25 000 (R360 300) from funds earmarked for assistants in the French upper house.
The Journal de Dimanche newspaper said he had written seven cheques to himself between 2005 and 2007 for a total of around ß21 000 (R302 650).
A spokesman for Fillon declined to comment, saying only that a judicial process was under way.
The claims add to mounting worries for the right wing Republican Party candidate, who had been considered the frontrunner for April and May’s election.
“How can we not consider that there are forces at work to silence me and to weaken my candidacy, or even try to prevent me from appearing?” the former prime minister said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper yesterday.
“It is a terrible plot, but I am sure that the justice system will not allow itself to be exploited by these defamatory allegations,” Fillon said.
Recent polls have indicated support falling slightly for Fillon, whose nearest rivals are shown as far-right candidate Marine le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron.
French authorities have opened a preliminary inquiry into the allegations that Fillon’s wife benefited from fake jobs, first published by Le Canard Enchaine weekly.
The newspaper said that his Welsh-born spouse, Penelope, had earned half a million euros from 1998 to 2012 working as his parliamentary assistant. – AFP