Former French President Sarkozy faces trial in campaign fraud case

A judge ordered former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to stand trial over accusations that he exceeded the legal spending limit in his failed 2012 re-election campaign, prosecutors said Tuesday. Sarkozy has long been embroiled in the investigation into alleged overspending on the presidential bid, which he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande after serving one term. […]

A judge ordered former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to stand trial over accusations that he exceeded the legal spending limit in his failed 2012 re-election campaign, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Sarkozy has long been embroiled in the investigation into alleged overspending on the presidential bid, which he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande after serving one term.

Sarkozy and 13 other people, including his campaign manager, were indicted in connection to the alleged fraud, the Paris prosecutor’s office told dpa. Sarkozy can still challenge the judge’s trial order.

Investigators say that his campaign spent more than 20 million euros over the 22.5-million-euro maximum allowed by French law.

Sarkozy’s conservative party Union for a Popular Movement, which has since changed its name to Les Republicains, is accused of using false accounting and fake invoices to hide the true 42.8-million-euro cost of the campaign.

Prosecutors say that while there was no evidence Sarkozy was directly involved in the fraud, he had been warned twice by accountants that his campaign was on the verge of exceeding the legal threshold.

The scandal is known in France as the "Bygmalion Affair," after the PR company that is alleged to have issued the false invoices.

Sarkozy, 62, tried making a political comeback by running in the French right’s primary contest to be their nominee for president. He was defeated by Francois Fillon, who served as prime minister under Sarkozy.

The judge’s announcement on Tuesday was another blow to the conservative Les Republicains party just weeks before voters go to the polls in April and May.

Fillon was forced to apologize Monday for employing family members in jobs in the legislature. He refused calls to drop out of the race. (DPA)