Lepen is challenging Emanuel Macron in the presidential election with polls showing Macron leading in the second round next Sunday. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that it was studying a report received from the EU anti-fraud service OLAF on 11 March. The research site Mediapart wrote on Saturday that the OLAF report claimed that Lepen had embezzled 140,000 euros in public money with party members totaling 617,000 euros. No one is accused of winning directly, but of claiming EU funds for staff and event expenses. Lepen’s office was not immediately accessible for comment. “The French will not be fooled by the efforts of the European Union and the European institutions (…) to intervene in the presidential campaign and harm Marin Le Pen,” National Rally President Jordan Bardella told Europe 1 radio. He said his party had filed two legal complaints against OLAF and would file a third in response to the report. Speaking to BFM TV, Le Pen’s lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut said his client denied the allegations. He said he had not yet been questioned and that neither he nor Lepen had seen the OLAF report. Le Pen has been under investigation since 2017 as part of an investigation into alleged misuse of European Union funds to pay for parliamentary assistants. ($ 1 = 0.9254 euros) (Report by Gilles Guillaume, written by John Irish, Edited by Raissa Kasolowsky)
title: “French Prosecutor Studying Eu Anti Fraud Agency Report On Le Pen " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-30” author: “Patricia Wilson”
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register PARIS, April 17 (Reuters) – French prosecutors said on Sunday they were considering a report by the European Union’s anti-fraud service accusing far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and members of her party of embezzling thousands of euros in EU funds. Lepen is challenging Emanuel Macron in the presidential election with polls showing Macron leading in the second round next Sunday. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that it was studying a report received from the EU anti-fraud service OLAF on 11 March. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The research site Mediapart wrote on Saturday that the OLAF report claimed that Lepen had embezzled 140,000 euros in public money with party members totaling 617,000 euros. No one is accused of winning directly, but of claiming EU funds for staff and event expenses. Lepen’s office was not immediately accessible for comment. “The French will not be fooled by the efforts of the European Union and the European institutions (…) to intervene in the presidential campaign and harm Marin Le Pen,” National Rally President Jordan Bardella told Europe 1 radio. He said his party had filed two legal complaints against OLAF and would file a third in response to the report. Speaking to BFM TV, Le Pen’s lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut said his client denied the allegations. He said he had not yet been questioned and that neither he nor Lepen had seen the OLAF report. Le Pen has been under investigation since 2017 as part of an investigation into alleged misuse of European Union funds to pay for parliamentary assistants. ($ 1 = 0.9254 euros) Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Gilles Guillaume. written by John Irish; Edited by Raissa Kasolowsky Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
