Jail for ex-pm Fillon and his wife in fake job scam
FRANÇOIS FILLON, the former French prime minister, and his British wife, Penelope, received prison sentences yesterday after being found guilty of embezzlement in a fake job scandal that wrecked his presidential bid.
Mrs Fillon was paid nearly £1 million of public money over 15 years for a purported job as her husband’s parliamentary aide. But the Paris Correctional Court found that she had not performed duties associated with such a role.
In an unprecedented fall from grace, Mr Fillon, 65, once the front-runner to become president, was given a fiveyear sentence, with three years suspended. His 64-year-old wife received a three-year suspended sentence.
The couple, who wore face masks to attend the court judgment, were ordered to repay the money. They were also fined £328,000 each.
Mr Fillon, one of the big names in French conservatism, denied the charges and said he was the victim of “a political hit job”.
His lawyers immediately lodged an appeal to prevent him being taken to prison, leaving him free to return to his country estate in northern France. Under
French law, he cannot be jailed until the appeal has been heard, a process that could take months.
The explosive allegations, dubbed Penelopegate, emerged in the investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné as Mr Fillon appeared to be coasting to victory in the 2017 presidential election. He was charged just weeks later.
His support crumbled, paving the way for Emmanuel Macron, then a relative political unknown, to seize the presidency aged just 39.
Mr Fillon’s trial was seen by many as a test of whether France’s political elite can be held accountable. Nine years ago,
Jacques Chirac, the former president, received a suspended sentence for corruption, and many observers assumed
Mr Fillon would receive a similar punishment. Instead, he is the most senior figure to receive a custodial sentence since France’s Fifth Republic government system was established in 1958.
Antonin Levy, Mr Fillon’s lawyer, described the verdict as “unjust” and said: “There will be another trial.”
The defence had been demanding that the verdict be postponed after a former prosecutor told a parliamentary inquiry that her superiors had pressured her to deal with the case quickly.
During the trial, Mr Fillon insisted that his wife, who holds a law degree from Bristol University, had been his closest adviser. But she told the court she could not recollect details of her parliamentary job and the couple failed to provide emails or documentary evidence of her role, or proof that she had visited the National Assembly for work.
Marc Joulaud, 53, who stood in for Mr Fillon and did his constituency work when he was prime minister under Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president, was also found guilty and was handed a two-year suspended sentence.
All three defendants were charged with embezzlement of public funds, fraud, theft and criminal complicity.