The appeal trial of the FN campaign kits case in the 2012 legislative elections, in which the party was largely acquitted at first instance, is due to take place from September 19 to October 19, 2022, decided on Tuesday, December 7, the Paris Court of Appeal.
All the defendants, as well as the prosecution, appealed against the judgment pronounced in June 2020 by the criminal court.
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In November 2019, seven protagonists and three legal persons, including the Front National - since renamed Rassemblement national (RN) - appeared for, depending on the case, fraud, abuse of corporate assets and trust, concealment or money laundering.
At the heart of the dossier, campaign kits made up of leaflets, posters, a website and accounting services which were sold to candidates for 16,650 euros by Jeanne, the micro-party of Marine Le Pen, and provided by the company of Riwal communications, headed by a former president of Gud, Frédéric Chatillon.
For the prosecution, this system hid overvalued benefits, intended to deceive the State which reimburses the expenses of candidates exceeding 5% of the vote.
No evidence found by court
The state had claimed from the party 11.6 million euros, the amount according to him of the election expenses he had reimbursed.
But the court had acquitted the party of the charges of fraud, considering not to have found of “
fraudulent maneuvers
” nor evidence of overcharging behind the supply of these kits.
The FN, on the other hand, was sentenced to a fine of 18,750 euros for "
concealment of misuse of social property
" - the prosecution had requested 500,000 euros - for having benefited from undue advantages from Riwal, in particular the fictitious employment of two elected officials. current, Nicolas Bay and David Rachline, the purchase of equipment and especially the granting to the FN of an interest-free loan of several million euros for three years.
Frédéric Chatillon, close advisor to Marine Le Pen, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, including ten months closed, the MEP Jean-François Jalkh, party lawyer, to two years in prison including six months closed and a sentence of 'ineligibility of five years, and the treasurer of the Walleyrand party of Saint-Just to six months suspended prison sentence.
Three other relatives of Frédéric Chatillon were given suspended sentences of one to two years in prison, while a last defendant, Axel Loustau, another former Gud, was fully released.
