Marine Le Pen’s embezzlement conviction and prison sentence, explained

Marine Le Pen? More like “Marine Le Penitentiary”. In what’s being described as a “political earthquake” for France, the leader of the far-right party National Rally (formerly Front National), and 24 other party members have been convicted of embezzlement of European parliament funds.

Le Pen has received a four-year prison sentence, a €100,000 ($108,000) fine, and, most critically, she has been banned from standing for political office for five years, meaning she can’t run in the 2027 French presidential election. Le Pen has spent years fighting and failing to gain political power, but this time she might have succeeded, making this a critical setback for her and her party.

Le Pen’s crimes

Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement relating to a “fake jobs system”. She and her party were receiving money for parliamentary assistant contracts from the European Parliament between 2004 and 2016, with payments around €4.5m ($4.8m). The money was specifically for those directly working on matters relating to the European Parliament.

However, a judge found that Le Pen and her party members had knowingly siphoned away this money to instead pay party workers within France working on matters related to Front National business only. This, naturally, saved them money on wages at the expense of European taxpayers, who were unknowingly funding the internal activities of a far-right party.

Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis’ findings were backed by a 150-page judgment written after a nine-week trial, in which he concluded that nobody is entitled to “immunity in violation of the rule of law”.

It’s darkly ironic that Le Pen’s party in particular has been found guilty of embezzlement, as they positioned themselves as anti-corruption crusaders fighting back against fat cat liberals. One of their slogans was “Head high, clean hands”, with Le Pen herself in 2004 firmly stating: “Everyone has taken money from the till except the Front National … The French are sick of seeing politicians embezzling money. It’s scandalous.” It sure is, Marine. It sure is…

The punishment

Though Le Pen received a four-year prison sentence, she remains free until her appeals are exhausted. If appeal judges rule against her, she will serve a two-year suspended sentence followed by two years wearing an electronic bracelet to track her movements. This means that, unless she commits any further offenses, she won’t actually see the inside of a prison cell.

For her, the far more serious punishment is being banned from standing in the 2027 presidential election, which was applied immediately. Many considered her the front-runner for the job, which has a five-year term. Being prevented from standing this time would mean her next opportunity would be in 2032, at which point the political mood may have shifted, and she’ll have seen her best opportunity for real political power slip through her fingers.

Le Pen has vowed that she’s will appeal this in every possible manner, insisting “I am going to appeal because I am innocent” and that “I’m not going to let myself be eliminated like this. I’m going to pursue whatever legal avenues I can.”

But the political world moves on quickly, and all eyes are now on her replacement, 29-year-old Jordan Bardella, now primed to lead the party in its upcoming campaigns. It remains to be seen whether Le Pen has the Trump-like ability to overcome a criminal conviction and defy the judges, but it seems she’s determined to hit back against this with everything she’s got.

All that said, whatever happens, her party can never again position itself as the squeaky-clean warriors against corruption. “Head high, clean hands”? More like head down, filthy paws.