France: EU fraud agency investigating candidate Le Pen

By ANGELA CHARLTON
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Paris prosecutors are studying a report by the EU fraud agency accusing French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen of misusing public funds while serving in the European Parliament. The report also names other members of her nationalist party, which seeks to diminish the EU’s powers. The report was disclosed by French investigative news site Mediapart days before Le Pen faces incumbent Emmanuel Macron in a runoff election Sunday that could determine Europe’s future direction. Le Pen denies wrongdoing. Macron, a pro-EU centrist, leads Le Pen in polls ahead of Sunday’s vote. But the race is tighter than when he beat her in the 2017 runoff.