“The leader of the French far-right, Marine Le Pen, will appear before the court in the case of money laundering of the European Parliament. They face fines and imprisonment.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
Together with Le Pen, 26 other suspects will be tried, including current and former French legislators and some members of the European Parliament.
All of them are accused of paying the staff of the “National Association” from the funds allocated for the work of the European Parliament.
If convicted, Le Pen could face fines and jail time – and possibly be disqualified from running for office for up to 10 years, which would hit her presidential ambitions.
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The leader of the “National Union” party herself denies everything, and the party’s spokesman, Laurent Iacobelli, promised that they will prove in the court of politics that there was no embezzlement.
We are going to prove that it is possible to be an assistant to a European parliamentarian and participate in the life of the RN (National Association – ed.)
Addition
Funds are allocated to European legislators to cover expenses, including salaries for assistants. However, they do not have the right to use this money for the activities of their party.
According to the investigation, the “National Union” party spent a million euros each year on the wages of people who were engaged in intra-party operations. The alleged scheme ran from 2004 to 2016.
The lawyers of the European Parliament believe that Le Pen together with her party “caused not only financial, but also reputational damage to the Parliament.”
We will remind
In the summer, the French prosecutor’s office began a pre-trial investigation on suspicion of illegal financing of the presidential campaign of Marine Le Pen in 2022.