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François Fillon and British wife quizzed over 'Penelope-gate' fake job allegations
French conservative presidential candidate François Fillon and his British wife Penelope were being questioned separately on Monday over allegations she was paid €500,000 (£426,000) for a job as his parliamentary assistant while in fact steering clear of his political activities.
The couple, who appeared on Sunday at a mass Paris rally to kick start his faltering presidential campaign, were questioned by financial fraud officers in Nanterre, west of Paris.
The national financial prosecutor launched a preliminary inquiry into misappropriation of public funds, misuse of funds and concealment last week after satirical weekly Le Canard broke the story.
Welsh-born Mrs Fillon also faces allegations that she was unfairly paid €100,000 by a magazine called La Revue des Deux Mondes, owned by a close friend of Mr Fillon's, for writing two short articles.
The magazine director, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, was questioned earlier on Monday in Nanterre.
Marc Crépu, the former director of the magazine has already been questioned. Last week he told Le Canard that while Mrs Fillon did write "two or three writer's notes" in the magazine, this could not be construed as "work akin to a literary adviser".
Though it is legal in France for parliamentarians to employ family members, it is illegal to do so if no work was done.
Mr Fillon has denied any wrongdoing while his wife has not yet responded publicly to the allegations.
On Sunday at a rally in Paris' Porte de la Villette began Mr Fillon told a crowd of 15,000 that he had nothing to hide.
"Right from the start, Penelope has been by my side, with discretion, with devotion. I have built my career with her. We have nothing to hide," said Mr Fillon, as his wife sought to keep her composure in the front row.
"Through Penelope, they are seeking to break me," Mr Fillon claimed, without specifying who such enemies were - internal or from a rival camp. "I'm not scared of anything, I've got a thick hide. If they want to attack me, then let them do so looking me straight in the eyes, but leave my wife alone!"
He added: "I want to say to Penelope that I love her and I will never forgive those who sought to throw her to the wolves."
"They thought they had torpedoed us, they thought they'd shot us down, and here you are," he said.
However, a Kantar-Sofres-One Point poll out on Sunday night will send jitters around the Fillon camp, as it places Emmanuel Macron, the maverick ex-economy minister on a centrist ticket, almost neck and neck with the conservative contender. Mr Fillon is on 22 per cent with Mr Macron just behind on 21 per cent.
Far-Right Front Nationa leader Marine Le Pen, meanwhile, is still in pole position in round one on 25 per cent, but is predicted to lose heavily to either contender in the run-off.
Mr Fillon could face legal woes over another funding affair after Le Journal du Dimanche said he had received seven cheques amounting to €21,000 from a slush fund of unspent assistants wages while senator from 2005 to 2007.