France’s Macron denies suggestions of impropriety
PARIS: French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron said yesterday he did not have offshore accounts or a hidden inheritance, less than a week from the first round of voting in an election marked by allegations of impropriety.
Polls see Macron running neckand-neck with far right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of voting on Sunday although conservative Francois Fillon and hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon have been catching up.
Macron has consistently swatted aside suggestions that he had something to hide while Fillon and Le Pen have fought allegations of misusing public funds.
French anti- corruption campaigners Anticor flagged concerns last month about discrepancies in Macron’s disclosure of assets, but the public transparency watchdog said in response it had found no inconsistencies. Macron said that unnamed political rivals would try to spread false news about him this week that suggested that he had money stashed in offshore accounts, which he flatly denied.
“I’ve always paid all my tax in France and I’ve always had all may accounts in France,” Macron said in an interview with BFM TV.
Asked about rumours that Macron had inherited a large sum of money from a wealthy businessman friend who died in November, Macron answered: “It’s false, totally false.” — AFP