Le Pen to stand trial for embezzlement of EU funds
It has been stated that French MP Marine Le Pen will stand trial on charges of embezzling funds belonging to the European Union.
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According to reports in the national press citing the Paris Prosecutor's Office, Le Pen, who is accused of embezzling European Union (EU) funds, will stand trial in 2024 alongside 26 others from her party, the National Rally (RN).
The first hearing of the case regarding the misuse of EU funds will be held at the Paris Criminal Court on March 27, 2024.
Meanwhile, a statement from the RN rejected the accusations against the party's European Parliament (EP) members and their assistants. The statement argued that Le Pen had committed no crime.
WHAT HAPPENED?
It is alleged that during her time as an EP member, Le Pen paid salaries to two people using EP funds for fictitious consultancy services.
An investigation was launched in France in 2015 regarding allegations that some EP members from the National Front (FN), including Marine Le Pen, had created "fictitious employment" at the EP between 2004 and 2016.
In September, the Paris Prosecutor's Office requested that a case be opened against 11 FN party EP members, including Le Pen and her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, on charges of misusing EU funds and "concealing the crime."
The prosecution also requested that 6 people, including Le Pen and Jean-Marie Le Pen, be tried for complicity in the embezzlement of public funds.
The National Front (FN) party changed its name to the National Rally (RN) in 2018.