Paris (Times Of Ocean)- Investigators have gathered evidence about the use of thousands of euros in EU funds by far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and her party, according to a report released on Sunday by the European Union’s anti-fraud agency. French
There is a presidential election between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, and polls indicate Macron will win next Sunday’s second round runoff.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on March 11 that it was studying a report it received from the EU anti-fraud agency OLAF.
On Saturday, Mediapart reported the OLAF report claimed Le Pen had misappropriated 140,000 euros of public money, with party members diverting 617,000 euros in total. The only thing they are accused of is claiming EU funds for staff and event expenses.
There has been no immediate comment from Le Pen’s office.
“The French will not be fooled by attempts of the European Union and the European institutions (…) to interfere in the presidential campaign and harm Marine Le Pen,” National Rally president Jordan Bardella told Europe 1 radio.
In response to the report, he said his party had filed two legal complaints against OLAF and would file a third.
Rodolphe Bosselut, lawyer for Le Pen, told BFM TV that his client denies the allegations. Neither he nor Le Pen had seen the OLAF report and she had yet to be questioned.
Since 2017, Le Pen has been under investigation for alleged misuse of European Union funds to pay parliamentary assistants.