A French court on Monday, March 31, convicted far-right leader Marine Le Pen on charges of embezzlement of public funds over a fake jobs scam at the EU parliament, a ruling which could derail her 2027 presidential hopes. The judge has yet to issue a sentence.
The leader of the Rassemblement National (RN) faces a five-year prison sentence, three of which would be suspended, and a fine of €300,000, according to the prosecutors’ requests. She also faces a five-year ban on seeking public office, which could prevent her from running for president in 2027. « It’s my political death that’s being demanded, » she said, in November 2024.
The three-time presidential candidate was accused of having hired four fictitious assistants when she was an MEP (2004-2017). In reality, they allegedly worked for the Front National (FN). The assistants, who were paid by the European Parliament, allegedly carried out tasks linked to the management of the party rather than work related to European parliamentary activity, as is normally required of such positions.
In addition to the suspicions of fictitious employment, the court suspects Le Pen of having been at the heart of an organized and centralized « embezzlement system » of money paid by the EU to her party, between 2004 and 2016.
On the stand in the fall of 2024, Le Pen denied the very notion of a system, claiming there was a lack of evidence and criticizing the lies peddled by former colleagues driven, she said, by « vengeance. »
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