France: Micro-party of Front National leader Marine Le Pen charged with fraud

The micro-party of France's right-wing party Front National (FN) leader Marine Le Pen has been charged with fraud.

Le Pen's micro-party, Jeanne, has been under investigation into the financing of the FN electoral campaigns, according to Le Figaro.

The daily reported Jeanne, a structure used in the electoral campaigns of the far-right party, had been charged on 5 May as a corporation for fraud and for accepting funding from a corporation.

A decision in the context of the judicial inquiry opened in Paris on the funding of election campaigns for FN 2011 and the cantonal legislative 2012.

Le Pen, who is on an official visit in the Czech Republic, has yet to comment about the charges bought against her micro-party.

A growing number of probes

Judges have already launched an investigation against Frédéric Chatillon, a friend and confidant of Le Pen dating back to their time together at law school.

The probe concerns the alleged "illegal financing" of the FN and satellite party Jeanne.

On 8 April, judges charged Chatillon, who worked as Le Pen's unofficial public relations adviser and provided PR services to FN through his media company Riwal, with "illegal funding of political parties by a legal person".

Riwal has also been charged as a corporation for fraud.

On 13 April, Nicolas Crochet, an accountant close to Le Pen, was charged in the investigation into the financing of the FN electoral campaigns.

Crochet was charged with complicity in fraud in parliamentary elections in 2012, illegal financing of political parties and misuse of corporate assets.