Several allies and close friends of the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen are due to go on trial in Paris accused of fraud during election campaigns in 2012, reports The Guardian.
The seven defendants including senior figures in Le Pen’s party, the Front National, which has since been renamed [Rassemblement National, or] National Rally, will appear in court on Wednesday accused of taking part in a fraudulent scheme to overcharge candidates for party election leaflets.
Each candidate standing for election for the Front National in 2012 was obliged to buy an “election kit”, including posters, leaflets, website design and other campaigning material from a micro-party linked to the central party.
The price for this kit was 16,650 euros (£14,325), which was close to the legal amount that candidates who scored more than 5% in the first round could later claim back from the state for election costs. But an investigation found that the true cost of the material was around 4,000 euros, allowing its makers – a company run by an old friend of Marine Le Pen – to make a large profit from state funds.
The investigation also claims that the readymade kits did not match all candidates’ election needs.