The right-wing populist is running for the second time against Emmanuel Macron in the runoff election for the office of president.
(Photo: AP)
Paris In the middle of the French election campaign, allegations of embezzlement against right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen caused a stir. A report by the EU anti-fraud authority Olaf with allegations against Le Pen was received on March 11 and is currently being examined, the Paris public prosecutor said on Sunday at the request of the German Press Agency.
The investigative news portal “Mediapart” published parts of the paper on Saturday. According to the report, Le Pen is accused of embezzling almost 137,000 euros in EU funds during her time as an MEP between 2004 and 2017.
Le Pen’s lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut, quoted by Mediapart in the report, denies the allegations. The presidential candidate reserves the right to take legal action against former assistants or service providers who may have misappropriated funds or committed other misconduct without Le Pen’s knowledge. From Bosselut’s point of view, the Olaf authority is not independent. In addition, the lawyer criticized the timing of the publication shortly before the second round of the presidential election on April 24.
The accused deny allegations
In addition to Le Pen, according to “Mediapart”, three other former EU parliamentarians from her party – then Front National, now Rassemblement National – are named in the Olaf report: her father Jean-Marie, her ex-partner Louis Aliot and the former vice- President of the party, Bruno Gollnisch.
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All together are said to have not spent a good 486,000 euros as intended. Funds that can actually only be used as part of his work as an MEP have been spent for national policy purposes, for example, or to support service providers who are close to the party.
Aliot, today the mayor of Perpignan, rejected the allegations on Sunday on Franceinfo. Olaf and Mediapart are operating outside the law and he is hoping for legal action to find out where the leaks came from and how the investigation went, Aliot said.
The allegations are not the first of their kind to incriminate Le Pen and her party. Allegations of bogus employment have been floating around for years. It is about the possible employment of assistants to several French MEPs who were paid with money from the EU Parliament but actually worked for the party.
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