Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will stand trial over allegations of illegally financing his failed 2012 re-election bid, a judicial source said on Tuesday.
The source added that 13 others would also face trial over the so-called ‘Bygmalion Affair’, which has involved charges of spending overruns and funding irregularities.
The decision to put Sarkozy on trial comes as French politicians face growing scrutiny over their personal finances in the build-up to this year’s presidential election in April and May.
French prosecutors in 2016 insisted that Sarkozy should face trial along with aides on charges that his unsuccessful re-election campaign received illegal funding.
His lawyer claimed he was the target of a “crude” political smear campaign.
The case initially centred on allegations that false bills via an events company called Bygmalion amounting to 18 million Euros were used to mask the fact that Sarkozy’s party, then called the Union for a Popular Movement, had massively surpassed campaign spending limits in 2012.
Illegal party funding carries a maximum prison sentence of a year and a 3750 euro fine.
In France, campaign spending limits for the 2012 presidential election were 22.5 million euros, a figure his party is accused of vastly surpassing.
The 61-year-old was placed under investigation in February for “suspected illegal financing of an election campaign for a candidate, who went beyond the legal limit for electoral spending”.
The Right-winger has repeatedly denied knowledge of dual accounting and false invoices issued by the Bygmalion event organisation company that meant his campaign costs were more than double the legal limit.
In a book published in January, Sarkozy wrote: “It will no doubt be hard to believe, but I swear it is the strict truth: I knew nothing about this company until the scandal broke.
Sarkozy has been cited in a string of cases concerning alleged corruption, fraud, favoritism and campaign finance irregularities have cast a shadow over his comeback hopes.
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