If the guilt of Le Pen and her fellow party members is proven, she faces a fine of up to one million euros, ten years in prison and a ten-year ban on public office, which will prevent her from taking part in the 2027 presidential elections.
The candidate for the presidency of France in the last elections and the leader of the political party “National Union” Marine Le Pen appeared before the court in Paris on charges of embezzlement of funds allocated by the European Parliament. Bloomberg reports this.
The media indicates that Le Pen and other party members elected to the European Parliament are accused of embezzling EU funds, which were used for the fictitious employment of political assistants. Prosecutors believe that Le Pen forced the EU parliament to pay four aides from 2009 to 2016, “without requiring them to perform tasks that correspond to their duties as parliamentary assistants.”
The journalists note that in the fictitious employment system of the political force, the first reports of which appeared in 2015, contracts of assistants from 2004 to 2016 were found, which confirm that such persons worked only for their party. According to this fictitious principle of employment, a bodyguard, a secretary, a graphic designer and the chief of staff of Le Pen herself were accepted.
“Many of them were unable to describe their day-to-day work, and some had never met their alleged MEP boss or crossed the threshold of the [EU] Parliament building,” reads the indictment, as quoted by The Guardian.
The media indicates that the politician faces punishment in the form of a fine of up to 1 million euros, 10 years in prison and a ban on public office for 10 years. Le Pen herself and members of her party deny the charges but investigators believe that the politician knew about this scheme and that her political force used EU funds as a “treasury” to cover years of overspending.
The mass media note that this process can be fatal for the leader of the “National Unity” party because it will prevent her from participating in the 2027 presidential elections. However, the lengthy appeals process can drag on until all the courts have been reached.
We will remind you, that on 22 September 2023, Le Pen and 23 members of her political force were accused of misuse of European Union funds. The Paris prosecutor’s office believes that the EU funds were not used to pay the assistants of MEPs but to pay political party members, which is prohibited by EU law.
On 9 July French media BFMTV reported that Le Pen had been charged with illegal financing of the 2022 presidential campaign. The politician is accused of allegedly exceeding the expenses, the limit of which is established by law.
Artemiy Kalinin
Фокус
