French prosecutors last week opened a judicial investigation into possible illegal financing of Marine Le Pen’s campaign in the 2022 presidential election. This was reported French media Tuesday afternoonThe investigation was launched following a report by the National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP) last year, which also named several presidential candidates, according to the AFP news agency.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has targeted the party for several possible violations, including illegal loans, embezzlement, fraud and forgery. It is unclear what the exact nature of the violations are. Marine Le Pen is said to have spent a total of around 11.5 million euros on her 2022 campaign. She lost the eventual election in the second round to current President Emmanuel Macron.
Le Pen’s far-right party, Rassemblement National (RN), with its lead candidate Jordan Bardella, unexpectedly suffered a painful defeat in the parliamentary elections last Sunday.
Magnifying glass
The CNCCFP report, which examines all presidential candidates based on their party declarations, is intended to assess whether the parties are entitled to reimbursement of campaign expenses. If the candidates do not comply with the rules, as may be the case with Le Pen’s party, the commission can reduce this compensation. In the most severe cases, as happened with RN, legal action is taken.
It is not the first time that Le Pen and her party have come under the scrutiny of the French justice system. In September of this year, she and 24 other party members will have to answer to the court for embezzlement of European funds linked to the remuneration of assistants of MEPs between 2004 and 2016. Le Pen and her party have previously denied all accusations related to illegal campaign financing.
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