Paris (AFP)

The Paris prosecutor's office on Wednesday ordered a fine of 500,000 euros against the FN in the case of campaign kits legislative 2012, the state's lawyer claiming for him 11.6 million euros in damages which aroused the anger of the frontist party.

"Smoky montages", "fictitious loans", "excessive prices": in an indictment with two votes, prosecutors Céline Ducournau and Nicolas Barret detailed for six hours a "litany of scams" intended to "divert public money systemically ".

"Do you hear the current rumblings of the litigants?", They asked the correctional court by demanding the condemnation of the seven protagonists judged since November 6th.

They demanded the heaviest penalty against Frédéric Chatillon, close adviser to Marine Le Pen, around which "the whole system holds": four years in prison, including two suspended, 200,000 euros fine and a definitive management ban for this boss of the Riwal communication company.

Former president of the Gud, the right-wing student union, 51-year-old Chatillon, is also accused of fraudulently enriching himself by diverting the lucrative profits earned by his companies in the case.

Against two party cadres, the Wallerand treasurer of Saint-Just and the jurist Jean-François Jalkh, the public prosecutor's office requested a suspended sentence of ten months and two years, respectively. He also claimed their ineligibility, for two years for the first, elected Ile-de-France, and five years for the second, MEP.

In the morning, the state's lawyer had claimed 11.6 million euros in damages for the 2012 legislative elections.

This sum, much higher than the fines provided by the penal code, is, in case of conviction, much more worrying for the finances already bad-in-point of the party frontiste, become Rassemblement national in 2018.

Taking responsibility for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, the RN denounced on Twitter a "will of these politicians to kill the RN, rather than letting it win in the polls!"

- "return trip accounting" -

For the prosecution, the FN played, in practice, "a leading role" in this system kits -tracts, posters, website, accounting services ...- sold by Jeanne, the micro-party of Marine Le Pen, and provided by Riwal.

These kits "mandatory", "identical", "non-modulable", "overcharged", hid, according to the prosecutor's office, a fraudulent maneuver "to constitute funds from the expected repayments of the State", which covers the expenses of candidates having exceeded 5% of the votes.

Jeanne, whose prosecution demanded the dissolution, lent the amount of the kit, and the interest of the loan, to the candidates who immediately returned the money by buying the equipment. This "return trip accounting" allowed Jeanne, almost devoid of own funds, to advance almost 9 million euros.

The micro-party then waited for the state reimbursement to pay Riwal, his only intermediary with the printers.

"They agree on the back of the state and for the candidates the operation is white," noted prosecutors.

- "fictional bank" -

For three weeks, the defense, en bloc, tried to justify the legality and ingenuity of this system, designed to overcome the funding difficulties of the FN after the electoral disasters of 2007.

Their main argument? Full validation of candidates' expenses by the National Commission for Campaign Accounts in 2012.

But for the prosecution, the Commission was deceived, not having a global vision on the system or on the role of "fictional bank" played by Jeanne, nor on the confusion between the micro-party and Riwal, managed de facto by the same man, Frédéric Chatillon.

Prosecutors also called for the sanctioning of suspicious transactions during the 2012 presidential election and other election campaigns until 2015.

Lastly, sentences ranging from 12 months in prison suspended up to six months were required for four of Mr. Chatillon's relatives: his partner Sighild Blanc, the elected Ile-de-France Axel Loustau and their friends Olivier Duguet and Nicolas Crochet. accountant, now under the threat of a ban on practice.

Defense lawyers plead Thursday and Friday.

© 2019 AFP