French poll bet’s wife probed for fake job

PARIS— French investigators launched a preliminary probe on Wednesday into claims that presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon gave his wife a fake job for years, paying her $538,000. The investigation for “misuse of public money” was triggered by the Canard Enchaine newspaper, which claimed that British-born Penelope Fillon had a fictitious role as a parliamentary aide to her husband, a conservative MP for the northern Sarthe region. The paper, which mixes satire and investigative reporting, said it had been unable to find anyone who remembered her working in parliament. Fillon said the claims were “mudslinging” and “misogynistic.”—

AFP Penelope Fillon, wife of French presidential wannabe Francois Fillon, is being probed for getting paid for a fake job.—