The European Parliament intends to “proceed for the recovery of sums unduly paid” during her mandate as MEP to Marine Le Pen, accused by the European anti-fraud office of embezzlement.
The European institution "seized Olaf (European Anti-Fraud Office) after discovering some of the irregularities" accused of the far-right candidate in the French presidential election and three other former MEPs, explained a of its officials at AFP.
"In total we are talking about 617,000 euros unduly paid," he said.
“Now we are going to proceed in the coming weeks to recoveries from the interested parties”.
The case was revealed on Saturday by the French news site Mediapart.
The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed that it received Olaf's report on March 11 incriminating Marine Le Pen.
His father, Louis Aliot and Bruno Gollnisch also concerned
The document, of which Mediapart publishes extracts, concerns the fees that political groups can use in the context of their mandate as MEPs and that Marine Le Pen and her relatives would have used for national political purposes, for personal expenses or for services for the benefit of commercial companies close to his party, the National Rally (RN) and the far-right parliamentary group Europe of Nations and Freedoms (ENL).
The other three former MEPs implicated are his father Jean-Marie Le Pen, his former companion Louis Aliot and Bruno Gollnisch, member of the national office of the RN and the ENL.
The office accuses them with Marine Le Pen of having embezzled around 600,000 euros, which he recommends reimbursement.
Marine Le Pen interviewed by mail in March 2021
According to the report, the candidate of the National Rally would have personally embezzled around 137,000 euros of public money from the Strasbourg Parliament when she was an MEP between 2004 and 2017. Olaf's investigation has been open since 2016 and Marine Le Pen has been questioned by mail in March 2021, said his lawyer Me Rodolphe Bosselut.
The presidential candidate, who will face Emmanuel Macron in the second round, has been prosecuted since June 2017 in the investigation carried out in Paris on suspicion of fictitious jobs for party assistants in the European Parliament.
She is indicted for "embezzlement of public funds" and "complicity" in this offense as part of this investigation.
His relatives protested against a "rough editing".
“Each time she is a candidate, a stink ball is thrown out to her, a few days before the election.
This generally comes from elsewhere in the European Union, in one way or another, ”lamented Laurent Jacobelli, spokesperson for Marine Le Pen on RMC on Sunday.
"The French will not be fooled by attempts by the European Union and European institutions" to "interfere in the presidential campaign and harm Marine Le Pen", judged the president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella C news-Europe 1 -The echoes.