François Bayrou, close ally of Emmanuel Macron, will be tried from October 16 in the case of the assistants of MEPs of the MoDem, the prosecution confirmed on Tuesday. The 71-year-old former minister is being prosecuted for complicity in the embezzlement of European public funds, between June 2005 and January 2017, as president of the UDF then of the MoDem.
The current Planning Commissioner will be joined on the bench of the defendants by ten other party executives of the time, in particular Michel Mercier and Jean-Luc Bennahmias. Justice accuses them of having used European funds to hire parliamentary assistants who would have, in reality, worked, at least partially, for the party.
Suspicions about other parties
“It took six and a half years for, after investigation and investigation, most of the charges to be nullified, reacted François Bayrou on Tuesday. But, in the meantime, slander and rumors will have done irreparable damage. »
The investigation began in March 2017 after the denunciation of a former elected National Front, Sophie Montel, on fictitious jobs of collaborators of nineteen of her colleagues from all sides.
These revelations had weakened the MoDem, President Macron’s main ally, and led to the resignation of François Bayrou, then Keeper of the Seals, Marielle de Sarnez (European Affairs) and Sylvie Goulard (Armies), just one month after their entry into government in 2017 Comparable investigations target the National Rally (RN), whose file is being closed, and La France insoumise (LFI).