Conspiracy Row Blurs Trial on Ex-French PM Wife’s $1 Million Job

(Bloomberg) -- Until a tweet from newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné on his family finances, Francois Fillon appeared to be coasting to victory in the 2017 French presidential race.

In stories that trickled out over several weeks, the newspaper alleged that Fillon’s wife, Penelope, collected about 1 million euros ($1.1 million) for acting as his parliamentary aide for several years, even though she allegedly did none of the duties.

Fillon’s party, Les Republicans, said the resulting criminal probe into the Fillon household -- and the speed at which it was carried out -- was a maneuver to steal the election. Other candidates rushed to reclaim the moral high ground that had made the center-right frontrunner surge in the polls. With judges prepared to release their verdict Monday, the conspiracy row is still quite alive.

A fresh allegation emerged earlier this month after Eliane Houlette, formerly the head of the financial prosecution office, told French lawmakers that her boss pressured her during the investigation. Fillon’s lawyer reacted by seeking a postponement of the verdict and further hearings.

Le Canard’s reports that Fillon’s wife had collected the paychecks prompted prosecutors to open a probe. The former French prime minister was charged weeks later, and his lead in the polls collapsed. In April, Fillon lost in the first round of France’s 2017 presidential election and newcomer Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen in the runoff.

After his defeat, Fillon quit politics and within months was named senior partner at French money manager Tikehau Capital. He and his wife were tried at the Paris criminal court in February and March.

Houlette says her comments were misunderstood. A recording of the parliamentary hearing where she spoke out “shows that the pressures she mentioned do not relate to the allegations against Fillon or to the merits of the proceedings brought against him,” her lawyer said in a statement. The pressure from her boss was of a purely procedural nature, she says.

Still, this last-minute drama has cast doubt on prosecutors’ impartiality and created a potentially toxic environment for Paris criminal judges to issue their verdict. President Macron asked a disciplinary board for officials to look into the way financial prosecutors at the Parquet National Financier, or PNF, conducted the Fillon investigation but the results of this probe weren’t finalized on Monday.

Paris criminal judges may go ahead and issue their verdict anyway. They might consider the pressure coming from Houlette’s former chief, a high-ranking official in charge of coordinating the enforcement of the PNF and Paris prosecutors, wasn’t of a political nature and part of her role.

Houlette said she was often required to provide summaries of suspect interrogations and evidence-gathering searches that had been conducted. She also said her ex-boss recommended handing on the Fillon probe to investigative judges with wider powers. Houlette said she first refused but eventually had to do so otherwise certain accusations would have been time-barred.

Already in 2017, Fillon claimed he was the victim of a plot directed from high up. He’d accused then-President Francois Hollande of running a covert operation to accelerate the criminal probe and spread damaging information. He maintained that defense in court.

“I was already convicted three years ago by the media,” Fillon said in February during the trial hearings. “The objective was to prevent me from running for president in normal circumstances.”

At the time of the allegations, the maximum sentence for embezzlement was 10 years in jail and a 150,000-euro fine. The French parliament has asked for 1 million euros in damages.

The couple deny the accusations. Penelope Fillon said in February she handled her husband’s mail, monitored press coverage and wrote memos to update him on local events. Fillon went further still, saying there’s “not one speech I made as part of my political career that Penelope didn’t review.”

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