Marine Le Pen Is Charged in Inquiry Into Misuse of E.U. Funds
By AURELIEN BREEDENJUNE 30, 2017
PARIS — Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader
and former presidential candidate, was charged on Friday in connection with an investigation into whether her National Front party misused funds at the European Parliament.
Le Pen, who until recently was a European representative herself, was charged with breach of trust over accusations
that she put her chief of staff and her bodyguard on the European Union payroll at various times between 2009 and 2016.
Le Pen was elected to the European Parliament in 2004, 2009
and 2014, and left after last month’s legislative elections to sit in the National Assembly.
Le Pen, is accused of putting staff members who did political work unrelated to the European Union
on the European Parliament’s payroll by having them sign up as phony parliamentary aides.
Several far-right parties in the European Parliament, including the National Front, have
been accused of using its funds and benefits to push their anti-European agenda.
Sixteen other National Front representatives in the European Parliament have been under investigation by the French authorities since 2015.
