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Fillon 'got $50k to fix meeting between Putin and Lebanese billionaire'
Source: The Guardian
Fillon 'got $50k to fix meeting between Putin and Lebanese billionaire'
Beleaguered presidential candidate faces fresh allegations
over 2015 meeting as prosecutors widen fake jobs inquiry
Kim Willsher in Paris
Wednesday 22 March 2017 11.22 GMT
The French presidential candidate François Fillon has been hit by allegations he was paid $50,000 (£40,000) to arrange a meeting between a Lebanese billionaire and Vladimir Putin as prosecutors investigating whether his wife was paid for fake jobs widened their inquiry to look into whether she signed forged documents.
The latest accusations came a week after Fillon, 63, was formally put under investigation for a misuse of public funds over the €700,000 of taxpayers’ money British-born Penelope Fillon earned for acting as his parliamentary assistant.
French media reported on Tuesday that the inquiry was examining suspected “aggravated fraud, forgery and use of forgeries” to claim she had worked when she had not, which her lawyer denies.
The allegations of Fillon’s role in a meeting between the Russian president, the Lebanese businessman Fouad Makhzoumi and Patrick Pouyanné, the chief executive of the energy giant Total, were made in the latest issue of the satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchainé, which broke the alleged “fake jobs” scandal in January.
The article said Fillon’s consultancy company 2F Conseil had earned $50,000 for setting up the 2015 meeting.
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Beleaguered presidential candidate faces fresh allegations
over 2015 meeting as prosecutors widen fake jobs inquiry
Kim Willsher in Paris
Wednesday 22 March 2017 11.22 GMT
The French presidential candidate François Fillon has been hit by allegations he was paid $50,000 (£40,000) to arrange a meeting between a Lebanese billionaire and Vladimir Putin as prosecutors investigating whether his wife was paid for fake jobs widened their inquiry to look into whether she signed forged documents.
The latest accusations came a week after Fillon, 63, was formally put under investigation for a misuse of public funds over the €700,000 of taxpayers’ money British-born Penelope Fillon earned for acting as his parliamentary assistant.
French media reported on Tuesday that the inquiry was examining suspected “aggravated fraud, forgery and use of forgeries” to claim she had worked when she had not, which her lawyer denies.
The allegations of Fillon’s role in a meeting between the Russian president, the Lebanese businessman Fouad Makhzoumi and Patrick Pouyanné, the chief executive of the energy giant Total, were made in the latest issue of the satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchainé, which broke the alleged “fake jobs” scandal in January.
The article said Fillon’s consultancy company 2F Conseil had earned $50,000 for setting up the 2015 meeting.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/22/fillon-paid-50k-to-fix-meeting-vladimir-putin-lebanese-billionaire-allegation