Francois Fillon came to the courts in Paris, where he was convicted. Photo: AFP
A former French Prime Minister has been jailed and sentenced to a year in closed prison for corruption and fabricated work. François Fillon, prime minister of President Nicolás Sarkozy’s government between 2012 and 2017, was found guilty Monday by the Paris Court of Appeal “for embezzlement of public fundsconspiracy and concealment of improper use of corporate assets ”.
He was sentenced to four years in prison and three suspended prison terms, during which must serve 12 months in prison.
Penelope, his wife, received a two -year suspended sentence.
Fillon and his wife, Penelope, left the courts in June 2020. Photo: AFP
After a “financial investigation”, the prosecution found him a sum of clues. François Fillon was convicted by the Paris Court of Appeal, which served the sentence on Monday.
The former head of the French government and his wife Penélope appeared in November for “embezzlement of public funds”, “complexity and concealment of business assets”.
In November, the prosecution requested 5 years in prison and one year closed with an electronic bracelet, plus a fine of 375,000 euros. The couple appealed. Fillon was campaigning for president against Emmanuel Macron when this scandal began and ruined his political career.
Telenovela in the campaign
This political-judicial soap opera began in January 2017, when the satirical magazine The Chained Canard declared that Penelope Fillon fShe was hired as her husband’s assistant and then replace, for three stages, between 1998 and 2013.
A job for which he was paid 612,000 euros net profit of public funds Although this practice is not illegal, the fact of Penélope Fillon’s use has been criticized. No one knows exactly what he worked for Penelope Fillon, who was originally Welsh and became his wife during his tenure.
Correcting speeches, managing mail? Too many “intangible” activities, the Attorney General denounced in his indictment in November.
The “feedback” of the field in Sarthe, your region? An “evanescent, not to say vaporous” activity, he insisted again, referring to an “redundant” activity with other collaborators.
the affair ended François Fillon’s political career, who worked for a Russian company, which he had to resign because of the war in Ukraine. He served on the Board of Directors of the petrochemical giant Sibur and in Zarubezhhneft, which is engaged in hydrocarbons in Russia.
Fillon established a “relationship of trust and closeness” with Penelope. According to the couple, Penelope Fillon performed “on the spot” in Sarthe, the place where they live in a Manoir, an act certainly “not material” but very “true”.
François Fillon’s lawyer, Antonin Lévy, argued for release, citing “41 certificates establishing in an accurate and detailed manner Mrs. Fillon’s contribution”.
The Fillon couple appealed for the first time and this was the sentence of the court of appeals in Paris.
Paris, correspondent
Source: Clarin
