EU anti-fraud body accuses Marine Le Pen of embezzlement

Her lawyer dismissed the accusations, raising suspicions over the "timing" of the report.

April 17, 2022 01:45 am | Updated 10:09 am IST - Paris

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen during a campaign visit to Saint-Remy-sur-Avre, on April 16, 2022.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen during a campaign visit to Saint-Remy-sur-Avre, on April 16, 2022. | Photo Credit: AFP

The EU's anti-fraud body has accused French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and associates of embezzling around 6,00,000 euros during their time as MEPs, French website Mediapart said Saturday, quoting a new report.

The allegations come just over a week before Le Pen goes head-to-head with incumbent Emmanuel Macron in the second round of presidential elections.

Her lawyer dismissed the accusations, raising suspicions over the "timing" of the report.

Mediapart published extracts from the new report by OLAF into expenses that political groups can make as part of their mandate as MEPs.

The agency accuses Le Pen and others of having used the funds for national political purposes, personal expenses or for services that would benefit commercial companies close to her National Rally party and the far-right parliamentary group, Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF).

The report points the finger at Le Pen and three other former members of the European parliament including her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, her ex-partner Louis Aliot and former far-right MEP Bruno Gollnisch.

The body accuses the four of having embezzled around 6,00,000 euros ($6,50,000), which it recommends they repay.

According to the report, Le Pen personally embezzled around 1,37,000 euros ($1,50,000) worth of public money from the Strasbourg parliament when she was an MEP between 2004 and 2017.

"I'm surprised by the timing of such a strong disclosure" and the "instrumentalisation", Le Pen's lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, told AFP.

Bosselut said he was "dismayed by the way that OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) is acting", insisting that some of the report related to "old facts more than ten years old".

He added that Le Pen "has not been summoned by any French judicial authority" and slammed the failure to send him or Le Pen the final report.

The investigation by OLAF was opened in 2016, Bosselut said, and Le Pen was questioned in writing by post in March 2021.

The Paris public prosecutor's office confirmed to AFP that it had received the report on March 11, which it was currently assessing.

Since June 2017, Le Pen is also under investigation on suspicion of having given party members fake jobs as assistants at the European Parliament.

She is accused of "embezzling public funds" and "complicity" in this crime as part of the judicial investigation.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.