Marine Le Pen’s campaign is suspected of being illegally financed

The Paris prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday that an investigation had been opened last week to examine allegations of financing Le Pen’s campaign, which include embezzlement, forgery, fraud, and a further claim that a candidate in an electoral campaign accepted a loan, according to The Guardian.

Le Pen and her party have previously denied the allegations regarding campaign financing.

The preliminary investigation was opened after a national commission charged with examining campaign finances, CNCCFP, notified the prosecutor’s office last year.

In the 2022 elections, it was the second time that Le Pen, who was then the leader of the anti-immigration, far-right party Rally National (RN), faced Macron in a runoff and lost to him.

In December 2022, the commission had objected to expenses related to the placement and removal of campaign materials on 12 buses, describing them as “irregular.” Le Pen had appealed but later dropped the matter.

French politicians continue to ponder how to form a government after Le Pen’s far-right was blocked from the vote in the final round of the early elections on Sunday night, but no grouping has won an absolute majority.