Marine Le Pen charged in EU funding scandal

French National Front leader Marine Le Pen is being formally investigated over an ongoing European parliament funding scandal.

The former presidential candidate is suspected of having known about €5m of payments made to party aides from the EU, despite the fact they were not MEPs.

French investigators have opened a case against Le Pen, but both she and her far-right party have denied the allegations.

The investigation is the latest to rock French politics, after three government ministers resigned earlier this month for similar payment irregularities.

Four members of the MoDem party, which was aligned with Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche, were forced out of the government having been accused of using EU funds to pay party workers.

Macron gained victory in the presidential election and the first round of legislative elections based on En Marche’s promise to rid corruption from French politics.