An investigation has been launched in France into Marine Le Pen's 2022 presidential election campaign, with authorities suspecting illegal financing, the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed Tuesday, MTI reported.
The Public Prosecution announced that the initial procedure began on July 2 in a case of a loan from a legal entity, without revealing details about the nature and details of the suspicion.
In France, since 1990, electoral campaign financing has been managed and controlled by an independent organization, the National Commission for Electoral Campaign Accounts (CNCCFP), and after approval by the body, candidates receive reimbursement for part of their campaign costs from the National Commission for Electoral Campaign Accounts.
In 2023, this body reported to the Paris prosecutor's office suspicions of irregularities in the financing of the presidential campaign of the National Rally party. The prosecutor's office said the investigation was being conducted by the financial department of the Paris criminal police under the supervision of an independent investigating judge.
My client was never heard in any capacity regarding any facts regarding this public allegation.
Marine Le Pen's lawyer Rodolphe Bousselot said in his statement.
“He is now facing a media campaign that he cannot yet respond to or defend himself, as he is not aware of specific complaints that could be the subject of a detailed response,” the lawyer added, noting that he had unsuccessfully requested further details from the prosecutor's office.
This process is a vague claim that cannot be disputed or questioned, and therefore it is unfair to defame my client in the media.
– Marine Le Pen's legal representative confirmed.
AFP quoted an unnamed leader of the National Unification Party as saying that Marine Le Pen's presidential campaign account had been approved by the competent authority in December 2022, and the state In February 2023 Accordingly, he paid part of the costs.
In January 2023, the authority published the campaign accounts of only 11 of the 12 presidential candidates. The twelfth was Marine Le Pen, who objected to the authority’s decision that more than 316,000 euros (about 124 million forints) of the politician’s campaign expenses were considered illegal. The sovereigntist right-wing politician filed a petition with the Constitutional Council for legal redress, which it later withdrew.
The amount is related to the rental of 12 buses used in his rural campaign.
Marine Le Pen used nearly €11.5 million in her third presidential campaign, in which she lost to Emmanuel Macron.
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