French presidential candidate accused of fraud
PARIS — Prosecutors here are studying a report by the European Union’s fraud agency accusing French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and other members of her nationalist party of misusing public funds while serving in the European Parliament.
The report was disclosed by French investigative news site Mediapart just days before Le Pen faces incumbent Emmanuel Macron in a runoff election Sunday that could determine Europe’s future direction. Le Pen’s National Rally party seeks to diminish the EU’s powers.
Le Pen denied wrongdoing, dismissing the report as “foul play by the European Union a few days before the second round” of the election. Speaking Monday during a campaign stop in Normandy, she said, “I am well accustomed to this, and I think the French will absolutely not fall for it.”
A similar EU fraud investigation was disclosed ahead of the 2017 French presidential election, which Le Pen lost to Macron. French investigators handed down charges against Le Pen in that case, which is still ongoing.
Macron, a pro-EU centrist, leads Le Pen in polls ahead of Sunday’s vote, though the race is tighter than when they faced off in 2017.
The EU’s fraud agency submitted its latest report last month to the Paris prosecutor’s office, which said Monday that it is “in the course of analyzing it.” No formal investigation has yet been opened, and no further details were released.
According to Mediapart, the agency report found that Le Pen, her firebrand father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen and other party members who served in the European Parliament used 617,000 euros in public money for “fictitious” reasons, notably for the benefit of companies close to the party. The fraud office is reportedly seeking reimbursement of the funds and potential fraud and embezzlement charges.
The office accused party members of “grave violations” and said the “inappropriate behavior” of members of National Rally — formerly called the National Front — “imperiled the reputation of the union’s institutions,” according to Mediapart.
The office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Monday, a holiday in Belgium and several European countries.