French presidential candidate Francois Fillon’s British wife is charged with three criminal offences over fake job scandal

  • Penelope Fillon is accused of embezzlement of public funds, which carries a ten-year sentence
  • She is also accused of aggravated fraud and misapporopriation of public funds
  • Her husband, Conservative Republican Francois Fillon has already been indicted

Penelope Fillon, 61, spent more than 13 hours being grilled by three Paris judges

Penelope Fillon, 61, spent more than 13 hours being grilled by three Paris judges

The Welsh-born woman hoping to become the next First Lady of France has been charged with three criminal offences that could see her jailed for more than a decade.

Penelope Fillon, 61, spent more than 13 hours being grilled by three Paris judges investigating a fake jobs scandal that has been dubbed Penelopegate.

Her husband Francois Fillon, the conservative Republicans party candidate to become head of state, was indicted earlier this month.

Now Ms Fillon has been formally accused of embezzlement of public funds, which carries a 10 year sentence and a £130,000 fine, misappropriation of public funds and aggravated fraud.

It follows revelations that Ms Fillon, a solicitor's daughter and devout Roman Catholic, never once set foot in the two offices where she earned hundreds of thousands as a highly-paid employee.

Rather than assist Ms Fillon with her ordeal in Paris today, 63-year-old Mr Fillon continued with his election campaign, as aides said it was 'business as usual'.

Ms Fillon arrived at the offices of financial judges in central Paris at 9am, and finally left in a chauffer driven limousine just after 10pm, without speaking to reporters.

Francois Fillon, the conservative Republicans party candidate to become head of state, was indicted earlier this month (pictured at an election event earlier today)

Francois Fillon, the conservative Republicans party candidate to become head of state, was indicted earlier this month (pictured at an election event earlier today)

She has consistently denied any wrongdoing but admits that she was a parliamentary assistant to her husband while never actually spending any time at all in the French parliament, where she earned a take home salary totally some £590,000 over three decades.

Instead she said that 'I took care of the mail arriving at our home' - a rambling country estate in the Sarthe department, south west of Paris.

Ms Fillon, who was born and brought up near Abergavenny, also earned the equivalent of £87,000 for 20 months work a tan upmarket literary magazine owned by a billionaire family friend.

Despite this, she admits that she never once went to the central Paris offices of the Revue des Deux Mondes (Review of the Two Worlds).

Instead she produced two short articles from home, and never met the editor of the publication, or any other journalists.

When investigators expressed incredulity that Ms Fillon could earn so much money from two organisations while staying at home, she replied that this was due to her 'wish to remain in the shadows, because of my character.' 

Ms Fillon walks towards her appartment building on earlier this evening following her 13-hour hearing

Ms Fillon walks towards her appartment building on earlier this evening following her 13-hour hearing

Mr Fillon wife Penelope Fillon attend State Dinner at Elysee Palace honouring Michel Sleimane in 2009
Prime Minister of France Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope Fillon arrive as The Pope visits Elysee palace in 2008

Ms Fillion and her husband Francois are pictured together (left) at the State Dinner at Elysee Palace honouring Michel Sleimane in 2009 and The Pope's visit to the Elysee palace in 2008

Police were particularly astonished that Ms Fillon claimed to have worked for five years in her home in the Sarthe while her husband was a minister in Paris.

In fact she was living in the French capital too at the time, although she insisted: 'I took the mail received at home at the weekend back to Paris to deal with there.'

The forgery charge relates to timesheets that the Fillons are said to have altered to make it look as though Ms Fillon was working all the time.

At one stage all her jobs overlapped, and she had also told journalists that she was studying English literature -and especially Shakespeare - at the Open University.

Asked how she managed to fit so much in, Ms Fillon claimed that she took no time off during the week, or even at weekends.

Yet in filmed interviews with journalists, both the Fillons had once claimed that Ms Fillon had no formal professional role whatsoever.

On the contrary, Ms Fillon portrayed herself as a relaxed wife and mother of five who was happiest looking after the family, and her horses and dogs, in the countryside.

The Fillons claim that the so-called Penelopegate scandal has been manufactured by a 'black office' run by France's Socialist Presidential Francois Hollande who is desperate to discredit them

The Fillons claim that the so-called Penelopegate scandal has been manufactured by a 'black office' run by France's Socialist Presidential Francois Hollande who is desperate to discredit them

Her two eldest children, Charles and Marie, also spent time on the pay roll as Mr Fillon's parliamentary assistants when they were students, and also face charges.

The Fillons claim that the so-called Penelopegate scandal has been manufactured by a 'black office' run by France's Socialist Presidential Francois Hollande who is desperate to discredit them. 

If Mr Fillon wins the presidency in May, he will enjoyed presidential immunity from prosecution for his entire five year term.

This raises the possibility of the First Lady of France appearing before a judge and jury while her president carries on running the country.

According to the latest opinion polls, however, Mr Fillon will be knocked out of the presidential elections following round one in April.

His independent rival, Emmanuel Macron, is instead expected to win, following a head-to-head with Marine Le Pen, of the far-Right National Front. 

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.