Police have raided the headquarters of France’s far-right Nationwide Rally (RN) and seized paperwork as a part of an investigation into alleged unlawful marketing campaign financing that was denounced by the occasion’s chief, Jordan Bardella, as “a harassment campaign”.
The raid got here a day after EU monetary prosecutors in Brussels mentioned they’d launched a separate investigation into the alleged misuse of €4.3m by the previous far-right Identification & Democracy (ID) group within the European parliament, which included the RN.
It additionally represented a recent setback for the occasion after its figurehead, Marine Le Pen, was convicted in March of embezzling EU funds and barred from operating for workplace for 5 years, successfully scuppering her hopes of operating in 2027 presidential elections.
Bardella, 29, whom Le Pen has requested to organize to marketing campaign in her place, mentioned on social media on Wednesday: “RN headquarters – including the offices of its leaders – are being searched by about 20 police officers from the financial brigade.”
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Police and investigating magistrates had seized “emails, documents and accounting” referring to “the last regional, presidential, parliamentary and European elections”, he mentioned, calling the operation “a serious attack on pluralism and democratic choice”.
The Paris prosecutor’s workplace mentioned the raid was a part of an investigation launched in July final 12 months that sought to ascertain whether or not campaigns in 2022 and 2024 have been funded by “illegal loans from individuals to the party or to RN candidates”.
The investigation would additionally look into allegations the occasion had included inflated or faux invoices in its claims for the state to reimburse its marketing campaign funds, the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned. The workplaces and houses of a number of firm executives have been additionally searched.
The investigation concerned “acts that may constitute fraud, loans exceeding campaign finance regulations, aggravated laundering of fraud, forgery and the use of forged documents between 2020 and 2024”, the prosecutors mentioned in an announcement.
The EU prosecutors’ investigation follows a European parliament report alleging that the ID group, which included MEPs from RN, Italy’s Lega, Germany’s AfD and different far-right events, had improperly spent greater than €4m of EU cash.
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A lot of the funds benefited firms linked to a former Le Pen adviser and his spouse, a consortium of European newspapers together with Le Monde has reported. ID was disbanded final 12 months and has been succeeded by a brand new group, Patriots for Europe.
Le Pen has appealed in opposition to her conviction and has mentioned she hopes will probably be overturned so she will be able to make her fourth run for the Elysée in two years’ time. Polls counsel both she or Bardella can be strongly positioned to win.
