Embezzlement trial opens for French ex-premier Fillon, wife

In a 2016 newspaper interview, Penelope Fillon declared that: 'Until now, I have never got involved in my husband's political life' AFP/Martin BUREAUShare this contentPARIS: French former prime minister Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope appeared in a Paris court on Wednesday for the start of their trial on charges of embezzling over a million euros in an alleged fake-jobs fraud.

Investigators say Fillon, 65, paid Welsh-born Penelope, 64, the salary of a parliamentary assistant between 1998 and 2013 - up to 10,000 euros a month - without her doing much, if any, actual work. It could decide to refer the questions to an appeals court, in which case the trial would be postponed. If not, the defendants are expected to start presenting their case on Thursday.

Fillon has denied the allegations and insisted that Penelope - charged with complicity - did real work for him in his rural constituency of Sarthe.

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