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MARINE LE PEN

France’s Le Pen ordered to stand trial in EU funding scandal

French prosecutors on Friday ordered far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen to stand trial over claims she used EU funds to finance party activities in France.

France's Le Pen ordered to stand trial in EU funding scandal
French Member of Parliament and President of the ‘Rassemblement National’ group Marine Le Pen. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP

The former presidential candidate will in March be joined by 26 other members of the Rassemblement National (RN) party in the dock, all accused of setting up a system for embezzling EU money to hire staff in France.

The fake jobs inquiry began in 2015, with prosecutors alleging that starting in 2004, National Front (as the party was then called) MEPs including Le Pen took part in the fake jobs scheme.

The accused include Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the co-founder of what became France’s most successful far-right party.

The party itself, as a legal entity, is suspected of receiving illicit funds, and of complicity in fraud.

Marine Le Pen was runner-up to Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections and could have another go in 2027. She was president of her party until 2021, and now leads its parliamentary group.

The charges against her are embezzlement and collusion in fraud.

The decision to go to trial was taken by two investigating magistrates from France’s financial crimes prosecuting unit.

The group is accused of using EU parliamentary funds to pay for assistants who in fact worked for the Rassemblement National party.

Le Pen, who stepped down as an MEP in 2017 after her election to the French parliament, has denied the claims.

The charges carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to double the alleged funds embezzled.

If convicted, the court could also declare Le Pen ineligible for office for up to 10 years – threatening her plan to make a fourth run for the French presidency.

The EU Parliament estimated in 2018 that €6.8 million had been embezzled from 2009 to 2017.

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CRIME

French police seize over a million ecstasy pills

French police have seized more than a million ecstasy tablets worth around €10 million from two vehicles in southeastern France, police said on Tuesday.

French police seize over a million ecstasy pills

Four people travelling in the vehicles were detained last week in the Drome department in southeast France and charged with drug possession and distribution, among other offenses, said a statement.

A handgun was also found during the searches.

The haul — weighing more than 540 kilos — represents two-thirds of the drug typically seized in France in a year, and is worth around €10 million, according to the interior ministry.

The bust was the result of an investigation launched in October following the suspicious use of a rented vehicle in the southeastern department of Isere.

In April, investigators had detected preparations that appeared to point to a drug transporting operation from the north of France.

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