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France's right-wing opposition party accused of shady deals with events firm

Party boss Jean-François Copé, whose friends run the company, dismisses claims as politically motivated on eve of Euro elections.

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A French newspaper has accused the country's main opposition party, the UMP, of paying nearly 20 million euros to a communications company run by associates close to party president Jean-François Copé, reports RFI.

The company, Event and Co is a subsidiary of Bygmalion, run by friends of the right-wing party’s leader.

According to Libération, there is no sign that some of the events billed to the UMP ever took place.

The accusations come only three months after Copé was accused of irregularities regarding eight million euros the UMP paid to Event and Co during the 2012 presidential campaign.

Although Copé denies the accusations, a preliminary investigation was launched two months ago.

Read more of this report from RFI.
Read an account of the previous allegations involving the UMP's funds here.