The affair which shakes the National Rally takes a decisive turn. The Paris prosecutor’s office recently requested a trial against the political party and 27 people linked to its operations, including Marine Le Pen herself. The suspicions relate to a system of embezzlement of European public funds which allegedly took place between 2004 and 2016.
In the details of this case, the prosecution requests the holding of a trial for 11 people who were elected MEPs on the National Rally lists, as well as for 12 people who were their parliamentary assistants. Four party collaborators are also involved in this affair. Among the personalities concerned, we find emblematic figures of the party such as Louis Aliot, mayor of Perpignan, Bruno Gollnisch, former number 2 of the National Rally, or Nicolas Bay, executive vice-president of “Reconquête!”.
The National Rally, as a legal entity, is also targeted by this request for trial for complicity and concealment of embezzlement of public funds over the entire period concerned. The penalties incurred in this case are significant, ranging up to ten years of imprisonment and a maximum fine of one million euros, or even double the amount embezzled. In addition, additional sanctions, such as deprivation of the right to stand for election, could also be imposed.
The unfolding of this affair dates back to 2015, when the European Parliament reported alleged irregularities concerning the salaries of parliamentary assistants of the National Rally. The investigation was then entrusted to two financial investigating judges in 2016. Marine Le Pen was indicted in 2017 for “breach of trust” and “complicity”, charges which have since been reclassified as “embezzlement public”. Investigators suspect the National Rally of having set up a system of embezzlement of funds allocated by the European Union to each MP to pay parliamentary assistants who actually worked for the party, thus allowing significant savings.
The European Parliament itself is a civil party in this case and has estimated its damage at nearly 6.8 million euros between 2009 and 2017. This request for a trial marks a crucial step in the outcome of the case and could have important consequences for the future of the National Rally and its members involved. To be followed closely.