Marine Le Pen denies wrongdoing at start of trial

Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff Agence France-Presse A guilty verdict in Marine Le Pen’s embezzlement trial could seriously jeopardize her bid to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the next presidential election in 2027.

Sylvie Corbet – Associated Press and Nicolas Vaux-Montmagny – Associated Press in Paris

Posted at 3:03 p.m.

• Europe

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denied breaking the rules as she and her National Rally (RN) party and around 20 others face charges of embezzling European Parliament funds, in a case that has the potential to derail her political ambitions.

Arriving at the Paris court on Monday, Le Pen insisted they had “not violated any political rule or any [regulation] of the European Parliament.” She pledged to present “extremely serious and extremely solid arguments.”

The nine-week trial will be closely watched by Le Pen’s political rivals, as she is a serious contender to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the next presidential election in 2027.

This comes as a new government dominated by the centre and right has just taken office following legislative elections in June-July. Some observers expect the trial to prevent National Rally MPs, including Marine Le Pen herself, from playing their full opposition role in parliament, as they will be busy focusing on defending the party.

Since stepping down as party leader three years ago, Marine Le Pen has sought to position herself as a conventional candidate, capable of appealing to a broader electorate. Her efforts have paid off, with the party making significant gains in recent elections, both at the European and national levels. But a guilty verdict could seriously jeopardise its bid to take the Élysée.

The National Rally and 27 of its senior officials are accused of using money earmarked for EU parliamentary assistants to pay staff who instead did political work for the party between 2004 and 2016, in breach of the 27-nation bloc’s rules. The National Rally was then called the National Front.

Marine Le Pen, whose party has softened its anti-EU stance in recent years, denies any wrongdoing and says the case is politically motivated.

If convicted, Le Pen and her co-defendants could face up to ten years in prison and up to €1 million in fines each. Additional penalties, such as loss of civil rights or ineligibility to run for office, could also be imposed, a scenario that could hinder or even destroy Le Pen’s goal of running for president again after Emmanuel Macron’s term ends. Marine Le Pen was Emmanuel Macron’s opponent in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.

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She was the party’s president from 2011 to 2021 and now leads the RN group of deputies in the French National Assembly.

Despite her denial, her party has already repaid €1 million to the European Parliament, said the Parliament’s lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve. Of this sum, €330,000 is directly linked to an alleged embezzlement by Marine Le Pen.

A long-running controversy

The legal proceedings follow a 2015 report by Martin Schulz, then President of the European Parliament, to the French authorities about the possible fraudulent use of EU funds by members of the National Front.

Mr Schulz also referred the matter to the European Anti-Fraud Office, which launched a separate investigation into the matter.

The European Parliament’s suspicions were further strengthened when a 2015 organisation chart showed that 16 MEPs and 20 parliamentary assistants held official positions within the party – positions unrelated to their supposed duties as MEP staff.

Alexandre Varault, a spokesman for the National Rally party elected to the European Parliament in June, told The Associated Press that Marine Le Pen would attend the first day of the trial, adding that he hoped all the defendants would be acquitted.

Allegations of misappropriation of public funds

The investigating judges concluded that Marine Le Pen, as party leader, orchestrated the allocation of parliamentary assistance budgets and asked MEPs to hire people who held positions within the party. These people were presented as European parliamentary assistants, but in reality they allegedly worked for the National Rally in various capacities.

The European Parliament’s legal team is seeking €2.7 million in compensation for financial and reputational damage. This amount corresponds to the €3.7 million allegedly defrauded through the fraud, minus the €1 million already repaid.

In the 2014 European elections, the National Front won a record 24 MEP seats, finishing first with 24.8% of the vote, ahead of the centre-right and the Socialists. This surge provided the party with a substantial financial windfall, which was then in serious financial difficulties.

An audit of the party’s accounts between 2013 and 2016 revealed that it was running a deficit of €9.1 million at the end of 2016. However, the party still had €1.7 million in cash and had lent €1 million to Marine Le Pen’s 2017 presidential campaign, while holding €87,000 in loans from Cotelec, its financing association.

At the time, the party was also in debt to a Russian bank to the tune of €9.4 million, a loan taken out in 2014 for €6 million.

Systemic practice alleged

The investigation uncovered numerous irregularities involving prominent party members.

Thierry Légier, a longtime bodyguard to Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Marine Le Pen, was listed as his parliamentary assistant. But his resume did not refer to this role, and he made no mention of it in his 2012 autobiography. Mr. Légier admitted during the investigation that he had not been interviewed and that he had signed his employment contract without fully understanding his official role.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, who led the National Front from 1972 to 2011, will not appear in court alongside his former colleagues due to ill health. Now 96, he was found unfit to give evidence by a court in June. He has 11 previous convictions, including for violence against a public official and inciting hatred.

He has denied wrongdoing during his time as party leader.