French Prosecutor Opens Probe into Pay of Front-Runner Francois Fillons Wife
PARIS—France’s financial prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that the wife of presidential front-runner François Fillon received a state salary for years without doing any work.
The probe into the alleged misuse of public funds comes after French satirical weekly, Le Canard Enchaîné, reported that Penelope Fillon received gross salaries totaling around €500,000 ($536,650) between 1998 and 2012 while serving for periods as a parliamentary assistant to her husband and his deputy, Marc Joulaud. The newspaper cited another assistant to Mr. Joulaud saying that she never worked with Mrs. Fillon.
The preliminary investigation pulls Mr. Fillon into a potential scandal as he sets out on the campaign trail as a no-nonsense, conservative candidate pledging to cut back the largess of the French state. The bedrock of his election manifesto is €100 billion in spending cuts and the elimination of 500,000 state-funded jobs.
Mr. Fillon—who polls show would likely face National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the second round of a presidential election—called the accusations unfounded on Wednesday and said he was “scandalized” by the report in Le Canard Enchaîné. He described the article as contemptuous and sexist.
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http://www.wsj.com/articles/french-prosecutor-opens-probe-into-francois-fillons-wife-1485362029
