For many years, I’ve watched Marine Le Pen and her party operate in France. I’ve heard their xenophobic, anti-immigrant rhetoric and seen it poison French political life. That rhetoric comes from a party founded by figures from France’s postwar far right. Nothing they do or say surprises me anymore. But even by their standards, this crime is extraordinary.
Last week, a French court of appeal confirmed that Le Pen played a central role in orchestrating a scheme that systematically embezzled public funds for over a decade. The investigation also took ten years, which might explain why there hasn’t been a public outcry, or why the focus has been on Le Pen’s future political moves rather than her wrongdoing. So let’s recap.
Essentially, this was about an organized fake jobs scam started in 2004 by the leadership of the National Front (FN), now the National Rally (RN). The party claimed EU salaries for staff who were supposedly working as assistants to MEPs at the European Parliament. But this money didn’t go to anyone doing legitimate European parliamentary work. Instead, it was funneled to France to support the party’s activities there. Among the staff on the payroll as fake MEP assistants were Le Pen’s bodyguard and her longtime personal assistant. The deception went on for 11 years, until 2016.
This case is unprecedented in French political history. In total, 28 defendants were brought to court, including Marine Le Pen and her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was an MEP until 2019. The ruling should have been enough to shift the debate beyond the narrow (if gripping) question of whether Le Pen would be able to run in the next French presidential election.
Yet, since her initial conviction by a lower court in March 2025, public attention has focused on Le Pen’s ambition to run in 2027. The court of appeal judges left the door open for a presidential campaign, as long as she wears an electronic tag. They softened her sentence to three years in prison, with two years suspended and the remaining year served under electronic monitoring. She was fined €100,000. She was also banned from holding public office, but only for 45 months, with 30 of those suspended. And since she has now appealed to France’s highest court, the tagging is on hold until that decision. Within hours of the ruling, she had launched her campaign for the 2027 election.
But the “will she, won’t she run” question is arguably the wrong one. It has overshadowed a necessary discussion about the abuse of power by a party that is now the largest in the French parliament.
The issue that should be shaking France is Le Pen’s legitimacy as a public representative. According to the judges, she was central to the fake jobs scheme. The scam was carried out “under the decisive impetus” of Le Pen herself, after she took it over from her father, Jean-Marie. A politician who aspires to the highest office in France was the driving force behind what a 341-page decision describes as “grave” offenses.
The Paris court of appeal based this conclusion on several factors. First, the length of the offenses: they spanned three parliamentary terms, which, in the judges’ view, showed that it was deeply entrenched rather than an isolated case of misconduct. Second, the amount of money misappropriated: €4.9 million according to the European Parliament’s initial suspicions, with €2.8 million proven to have been misused, according to the appeal court.
The RN itself, as a legal entity, was also convicted of diverting European Parliament funds. The party was fined €2 million, with half of that suspended.
Since 1988, no French presidential election has taken place without a Le Pen—father or daughter—on the ballot. As if inheriting her family’s political capital weren’t enough, Marine Le Pen now stands at the center of a system that fundamentally contradicts the values her party has always claimed to uphold. In fact, these guilty verdicts put the RN in a uniquely contradictory position.View image in fullscreen
National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen at the European Parliament, where he held a seat for 35 years. Photograph: Gerard Cerles/EPA
For years, the party campaigned under the slogan mains propres et tête haute (“Clean hands and heads held high”), presenting itself as the party of political integrity.
“Everyone has been dipping into the public purse except the National Front,” Le Pen declared during a TV debate at the time. In 2013, she publicly demanded lifetime bans from public office for elected officials convicted of offences. “When are we going to introduce lifetime ineligibility for all those convicted of offences committed in connection with their public office?” she asked.
It wasn’t a casual remark. It was a formal pledge in her presidential platform, specifically targeting elected officials convicted of embezzling public money.
Yet even as she boasted about her own supposedly spotless record on corruption – her hands were “immaculate,” she claimed – the scheme for which she would later be convicted twice was already in motion.
It’s ironic that a party claiming to stand for law and order would be so deeply caught up in financial scandal. It’s also indefensible. Can a party with such tough talk on crime have any credibility after being found to have orchestrated the misappropriation of public funds?
Still, to me, the appeal court showed a degree of leniency that didn’t match its verdict. French law allows for up to 10 years of ineligibility for elected officials convicted of serious breaches of integrity, like embezzling public funds.
I can think of many professions in France – from law, accounting, and the civil service to childcare, healthcare, and security – where a criminal conviction linked to professional duties would result in the offender being struck off, disqualified, or barred from practicing for a time.
Such restrictions are meant to protect public trust. And French courts regularly hand down prison sentences in embezzlement cases involving much smaller financial losses. In a 2022 decision, the Court of Cassation upheld the criminal conviction of a mayor who diverted €19,240 of municipal funds. Besides a fine, he was permanently barred from public employment and disqualified from seeking public office for five years.
The RN, which claims to defend France and the French people, instead deceived them and took what was rightfully theirs for its own benefit. Contrary to the racist and xenophobic narrative the party has long promoted, it’s not immigrants who have been living off France, but the party’s own leaders, who diverted public funds meant to keep our democratic institutions running. Marine Le Pen has never expressed remorse. She has never apologized for betraying the “republican values” she so often invokes while claiming to defend the nation. And that, more than anything else, should have disqualified her and her party, beyond any appeal.
Rokhaya Diallo is a French journalist, film-maker, activist and Guardian Europe columnist.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs addressing why Marine Le Pen remains in public life despite her legal troubles written in a natural tone with clear direct answers
FAQs Why is Marine Le Pen still in public life
1 Wait she was convicted What for
Yes In March 2025 she and several other National Rally party members were found guilty of embezzling EU funds They used money meant for European Parliament assistants to pay party staff in France
2 If she was convicted why isnt she in prison
She wasnt sentenced to immediate prison time The court gave her a fouryear sentence but part of it is suspended and part can be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet The main punishment was a fiveyear ban on holding public office which took effect immediately
3 So she cant run for president in 2027
Correct Unless she wins an appeal that overturns or suspends the ban before the election she is legally barred from running
4 How can she still be in public life if shes a convicted criminal
She is appealing the verdict Under French law she remains a member of parliament and can continue her political activities until her appeal is heard The court did not order her to be detained so she is free to move and speak
5 Isnt she lucky to be out of prison
Many people think so The prosecution had requested a prison sentence and a fiveyear ban The judge gave a softer sentence than requested allowing her to avoid jail time for now Her legal team was surprised by the immediate execution of the ban but she avoided the worstcase scenario
6 Why would anyone still support her after a fraud conviction
Her supporters see the case as a political attack by the system or the EU establishment They believe she is being punished for her antiEU nationalist views not for actual wrongdoing This victim narrative often strengthens support among her base
7 What happens if she wins her appeal
If she wins the conviction and the ban could be overturned or reduced She would then be eligible to run for president again This is a highstakes legal battle that could take months or years
