France’s Front National charged with fraud in election finance inquiry
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Version 0 of 1. Marine Le Pen, the president of the French far-right Front National (FN), has been dealt a blow after her party was charged with misuse of assets and complicity in fraud in a continuing campaign finance inquiry. Investigating judges suspect senior FN officials and associated companies of defrauding the state by inflating campaign expenses for the 2012 parliamentary elections. Wallerand de Saint-Just, the party treasurer, said on Wednesday as he emerged from questioning: “We’re innocent of all accusations made against us.” The case is awkward for Le Pen, who has staked her popularity on loudly denouncing the corruption scandals that have rocked France’s other major parties: Nicolas Sarkozy’s Republicans, which has faced campaign funding investigations, and the Socialists, whose budget minister quit after admitting he had hidden money in a secret Swiss account. Le Pen is trying to move on from a bruising battle to evict her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, from the party he co-founded, and is preparing for December’s regional elections as a springboard for her 2017 presidential bid, hammering home her party’s anti-immigration stance. She has always said her party was not among the country’s grasping and discredited elite and was squeaky clean. The scandal is centred on a “micro-party” named Jeanne, set up to deal with elections for the FN. Jeanne is suspected of selling special “election campaign kits” including posters, material and websites to 525 FN parliamentary candidates in 2012 for about €16,000 (£12,000) each. The cost would then be reimbursed by the state if the candidate won more than 5% of the vote. Jeanne is suspected of making large margins from state funds by overcharging for the kits. It is also being investigated over high-interest loans it made to candidates to buy the kits. Another company, Riwal, which worked on party communications and created the kits, is also suspected of making big margins. The companies are among six other entities and people already charged as part of the investigation. Earlier this year, Le Pen said her party was beyond reproach in terms of election funding and denounced what she called a “political will to damage the FN”. |