Le Pen workers paid using European parliament funds

 The personal assistant of French far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, has been charged with defrauding the European Parliament.
Catherine Griset, Le Pen’s office chief, was found guilty in a scandal over fake jobs. Investigators say two employees were paid 340,000 Euros using European Parliament funds while they worked for Le Pen’s party, the National Front. Le pen has refused to repay the funds, forcing the European Parliament to begin docking it from her monthly parliamentary salary of 16-thousand Euros. She has denied the allegations and described the probe as a vendetta against her. Opinion polls say Le Pen is winning the first round of the election, while they predict her to lose in a runoff in May.