French far-right leader Le Pen found guilty in embezzlement trial

The Paris Court on Monday found Marine Le Pen, parliament leader of the French far-right wing party National Rally (RN), guilty of embezzling public funds to pay ghost European parliamentary assistants. The ruling bans her from running for the French presidency for five years.

Alongside Le Pen, eight other RN members in the European Parliament (EP) were also convicted of embezzlement. The 12 parliamentary assistants they hired were found guilty of possessing stolen goods.

According to the Court, Le Pen and her colleagues had the EP pay salaries to individuals who were in fact working, partially or entirely, for the French far-right wing party instead of the EP.

The total embezzled funds reached about 2.9 million euros (US$3.1 million), the Court said, adding that Le Pen alone has embezzled some 474,000 euros (US$513,000).

The Court sentenced Le Pen to four years in prison, two of which are to be served with an electronic bracelet at home. She was also fined 100,000 euros.

Le Pen, with a leading popularity in polls, had previously stated 2027 presidential race would be her fourth and final attempt at the French presidency.

Le Pen was French President Emmanuel Macron's main political rival in the past two presidential elections. In 2022, Macron defeated her with 58.5 percent of the votes. In 2017, He won against her in a runoff vote with 66.10 percent of the votes. (1 euro = US$1.08)