Whine over Le Pen’s liquor bill

THE father of French far-right presidential candidate Marine le Pen allegedly spent the equivalent of about R122 000 on fine wines to celebrate what he hoped would be her election success – then sent the bill to the EU.

Jean-marie le Pen’s bill from an upmarket wine merchant included dozens of bottles of Bollinger, Dom Perignon and Laurent Perrier champagne, it was reported. The 88-yearold firebrand wanted specially made European Parliament labels stuck on them so they could be passed off as a legitimate expense.

The total bill, including delivery, for the 100 bottles delivered in December to the Le Pen family mansion in Paris was 8 500. It was said to have been sent by Le Pen to the European Parliament, where he remains an MEP.

The paperwork was published by the Paris investigative website Mediapart, which has spent months exposing corruption in the Le Pen family party, the National Front. It said Le Pen asked the wine merchant Lavinia to apply European Parliament labels but it is not clear if it did so.

The European Parliament is to investigate. – Daily Mail