Far-right French politician Marine Le Pen, her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, their party Rassemblement National (RN), and 25 others will be taken to trial for embezzlement of EU funds, the Paris Correctional Court has announced.
Suspicions have been raised that the former leader of the National Front and her co-defendants misappropriated EU funds from 2004 to 2016 to finance assistants employed for the party. Le Pen fervently denies these allegations.
The charges also extend to her father Jean-Marie, Mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot, and the party’s former deputy, Bruno Gollnisch among others. In total, those indicted include eleven former MEPs, twelve assistants, and four party employees.
The investigation began in March 2015 when the European Parliament identified possible irregularities concerning the salaries of the then Front National’s parliamentary employees. In June 2017, Le Pen was charged with “breach of trust” and “complicity,” which were later reclassified as “embezzlement of public funds.”
Prosecutors suspect that the RN deliberately established a scheme to embezzle the €21,000 monthly payments from the EU designated for each MEP’s parliamentary assistants. It is alleged that these assistants were working either partially or entirely for the party, thereby leading to significant wage savings.
Those found guilty could face up to ten years imprisonment and fines totalling up to one million euros, or “double the proceeds of the crime.”
The European Parliament has become a civil party, estimating their losses due to this incident to be around €6.8 million.
