Communist presidential candidate Fabien Roussel is under investigation on suspicion of fictitious employment after Mediapart accused him of having been paid between 2009 and 2014 as a parliamentary assistant without having really worked, we learned on Friday from a source familiar with the matter.
This investigation was entrusted, according to the same source, to the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses (OCLCIFF) by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF).
Investigation opened for “embezzlement of public funds” and “concealment of embezzlement of public funds”
Contacted by 20 minutesthe PNF confirms the opening of a preliminary investigation of the heads of “embezzlement of public funds” and “concealment of embezzlement of public funds”.
After the accusations from the online media, Fabien Roussel, also number one of the PCF, had affirmed that he had “documents” proving his activity as a parliamentary assistant to Jean-Jacques Candelier (ex-deputy for the North).
“I was with him, and without him, to follow conflicts in Douaisis, (…) I have the documents of the work that I did with him on these subjects, with trade unionists”, declared Fabien Roussel end of February. He then said he was “surprised and indignant” by the article in Mediapart.
“I don’t only have friends, that’s normal”
The candidate had specified that he had never won 3,000 euros per month as Mediapart writes: “I started at 2,460 net, I finished at 2,700”.
“They investigated by questioning people who are at war with me. I don’t just have friends, that’s normal (…) But I have dozens of people who will be able to say what we did together, the fights we even won together with Jean-Jacques Candelier ”, had -he adds.