Nicolas Sarkozy Ordered to Stand Trial Over Campaign Finances

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/world/europe/nicolas-sarkozy-trial-france.html

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PARIS — Former President Nicolas Sarkozy has been ordered by a judge to stand trial on charges of illegally financing his failed 2012 re-election campaign, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday, the latest impediment for a politician who not long ago was hoping for a comeback.

Mr. Sarkozy, 62, a mercurial right-wing politician who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer said he would appeal the decision, after which the case would be referred to another court for a final ruling.

Mr. Sarkozy, who could face up to a year in prison and a fine of 3,750 euros, or about $4,000, is out of the running for presidential elections this spring after a poor showing in a November primary for the center and right candidates, and he no longer leads the center-right Republican Party.

His diminished role in French politics would limit the fallout from a trial, but the judge’s decision comes amid growing anger against the political establishment and reflects increased scrutiny of its financial and personal arrangements.

Mr. Sarkozy would be the second French president since 1958 to go on trial for a financial scandal. Jacques Chirac, who was president from 1995 to 2007, was given a suspended sentence in 2011 after being convicted of embezzlement and misuse of public funds when he was mayor of Paris.

More recently, Christine Lagarde, a former economy minister for Mr. Sarkozy who went on to head the International Monetary Fund, was convicted in December of negligence for misusing public funds, but the court did not impose a fine or a sentence.

François Fillon, Mr. Sarkozy’s former prime minister and the Republican presidential candidate, is bearing the brunt of the current outrage after revelations that he used taxpayer money to pay family members for parliamentary work that might not have been genuine.

In Mr. Sarkozy’s case, the prosecution asserts that he knowingly authorized his 2012 campaign to surpass the strict spending limits set by French law.

At the time, the limit for presidential campaigns was about $18.6 million per candidate in the first round of the elections, and about $5 million on top of that in the second round for the two top vote-getters, who included Mr. Sarkozy.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday that Mr. Sarkozy was suspected of spending at least $45 million, nearly twice the limit, and that he had ignored warnings from his campaign accountants.

The case against Mr. Sarkozy is part of what is known as the Bygmalion affair, named for the public relations company suspected of issuing false invoices to Mr. Sarkozy’s party in 2012 for events that were actually for his presidential campaign.

The prosecution asserts that the goal of the fraud was to hide the overspending by Mr. Sarkozy’s campaign from the electoral authorities.

Mr. Sarkozy has repeatedly denied being aware of any false billing, and the prosecutors have not charged him with wrongdoing in that regard. Instead, the charges of illegal campaign financing relate only to the overspending, for which he has already paid a fine.

Thirteen other people — including former party officials, aides close to Mr. Sarkozy and former executives at Bygmalion — were also ordered to stand trial on charges of involvement in the fraud, the prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

Thierry Herzog, Mr. Sarkozy’s lawyer, noted in a statement that the decision was signed by only one of the two judges investigating the case, a potential sign of uncertainty about the evidence.

“The clear disagreement between the two magistrates in charge of the matter is such a rare event that it is worth underlining,” he said, “as it illustrates the inanity of the decision.”

Mr. Sarkozy tried a political comeback last year, steering his presidential primary campaign rightward and hoping that the French electorate would look past his legal entanglements. But he was knocked out of center-right presidential primaries in November.

Mr. Fillon was recently embroiled in legal problems of his own, after revelations in the French news media that he used taxpayer money to put his wife and children on the payroll, ostensibly as parliamentary aides.

The revelations are especially damaging for Mr. Fillon because he has portrayed himself as a virtuous politician, who, unlike his opponents — Mr. Sarkozy primarily — was untainted by legal scandals.

“There is no point in talking about authority when you are not yourself irreproachable,” Mr. Fillon said in August during the primary campaign. “Who can imagine for a single moment General de Gaulle placed under formal investigation?” he added, a clear swipe against Mr. Sarkozy.

Mr. Fillon has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to stay in the presidential race, despite opinion polls showing that he is no longer the favorite and might not advance to the second round of the elections.