François Fillon targeted by a new investigation in the affair of parliamentary assistants – archyde

Sentenced in 2020 in the case of the fictitious jobs of his wife Penelope, François Fillon is the target of another investigation, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned from a source familiar with the matter, Friday, September 3.

The investigations of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), started in 2017 for “embezzlement of public funds”, relate to the conditions of employment by the former Prime Minister of the writer Maël Renouard, between 2013 and 2015, as parliamentary assistant, this source said, confirming information from RTL. Mr. Fillon was heard on this subject this year, according to the source close to the file, and the procedure is still in the hands of the PNF. Magistrates can now decide to open a judicial investigation, summon François Fillon before the Paris Criminal Court or dismiss the investigation.

As the site had revealed Buzzfeed in 2017, Maël Renouard, François Fillon’s “pen” when the latter was at Matignon, was hired to write Make, program book of the presidential candidate published in September 2015. This book has sold more than 100,000 copies and earned Mr. Fillon, according to RTL, 250,000 euros.

“Artificial creation of the PNF”

The investigation, carried out by the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Fiscal Infractions (OCLCIFF), must determine whether the contract of parliamentary assistant of Mr. Renouard, paid 38,000 euros from public funds during this period, according to the radio, could be justified by this single mission.

“It is astounding to claim that a parliamentary collaborator cannot participate in the writing of a political book by an MP, reacted to AFP his lawyer, M^e Antonin Lévy. This investigation is a pure artificial creation of the PNF, which persists in keeping empty procedures open and brings them out conveniently a few weeks before the upcoming appeal trial. ” In the part of the fictitious jobs of his wife, Penelope, François Fillon had appealed against his conviction in June 2020 to five years in prison, including two closed, and will be retried in November.