France’s Front National Party Charged with Misuse of Assets and Complicity in Fraud

France’s Front National (FN) Party is known for its staunch anti-immigrant stance and other far-right positions, but now it is getting attention for its possible involvement in election fraud.  Marine Le Pen and other party officials have strongly denied the accusations despite the investigation launched by judges focusing on the conduct of FN officials and affiliated companies for allegedly defrauding the state by inflating campaign costs during the 2012 parliamentary elections.

The investigation comes at an inopportune time as Le Pen and the party prepare for regional elections later this year.  This juxtaposed against the FN party’s well-known stance for running a campaign free from the influence of the county’s elite; and FN putting the spotlight on the purported corruption of France’s Republican and Socialist parties.

The basis of the allegations concentrate on the involvement of the FN affiliated “micro-parties” that sold what were known as special “election campaign kits” comprised of various communication materials through different mediums such as posters, websites, and other collateral in support of over 500 FN parliamentary candidates.  The micro-party would sell the kits for as high as $18,000 only to be reimbursed by the state if the candidate reached a 5% share of the vote. 

So far, less than ten companies and their workers have been charged through the course of the investigation. Currently, there are no direct links demonstrating that FN officials sanctioned the sale of the over-inflated kits by any of the micro-parties.  As the investigation continues it will be interesting to see just if FN operates at the level of transparency it holds other French political parties to.