French politician Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of misappropriating EU funds to finance her far-right party.
The National Rally (RN) leader was accused of hiring assistants who worked on party affairs instead of the European Parliament, who were paying them.
Le Pen and 24 other officials from the party were accused of diverting more than €3m (£2.51m) of European Parliament funds to pay France-based staff between 2004 and 2016.
She was found guilty of embezzlement of EU funds along with eight MEPs.
BREAKING: French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has been found guilty in an embezzlement case.https://t.co/YzKeESCgVn
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The judge in the case has not yet said what Le Pen’s sentence should be, but it could result in her being barred from standing in the 2027 French presidential election.
Last year, prosecutors said Le Pen should be fined €300,000 and handed a prison term. They also called for her to be ineligible from running for public office for five years.
Le Pen’s sentencing is expected later today. The court may declare her ineligible to run for office “with immediate effect”, even if the RN leader appeals.
This would prevent Le Pen from running for president for two years, Sky News reports.
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