Former France presidential candidate Fillon likely to stand trial

The French national financial prosecutor has recommended that former conservative presidential candidate François Fillon and his wife, Penelope, be prosecuted over the fake job scandal that destroyed Mr Fillon’s 2017 campaign.

The couple could be tried this year for misappropriation of public funds, fraud, theft and criminal complicity.

The prosecutor recommended that Marc Joulaud, who replaced Mr Fillon as a deputy in the National Assembly while Mr Fillon served as prime minister, also stand trial. Mr Joulaud renewed Ms Fillon's fake contract and increased her salary.

Mr Fillon was expected to win the president's office until the satirical weekly Canard Enchâiné revealed that Ms Fillon had received about €600,000 as a parliamentary assistant. "There is no evidence indicating the reality of Penelope Fillon's work," the prosecutor concluded in a summing up obtained by Le Monde.