Penelope Fillon resigned from her municipal mandate | EUROtoday

After the choice of the Court of Cassation within the case of fictitious jobs on the National Assembly, Penelope Fillon, spouse of former Prime Minister François Fillon, resigned from her place as municipal councilor in Solesmes, in Sarthe, stated the mayor of this small city on Monday April 29.

“She gave me her resignation on Thursday [25 avril] in the early afternoon “announced Pascal Lelièvre, mayor of Solesmes, to a correspondent from Agence France-Presse (AFP), confirming information from Free Maine.

The day before, the Court of Cassation confirmed the guilt of the Fillon spouses in the fictitious jobs affair which had contributed to the elimination in the first round of Mr. Fillon in the race for the Elysée in 2017.

” She regrets “ to leave the municipal council, “because she was well invested”stated Mr. Lelièvre. “She by no means missed a municipal council assembly, she participated in a number of commissions. It is with remorse that I see her go away. »

Reduced sentence on appeal

In 2017, the press revealed that M^me Fillon and two of his children had benefited from fictitious jobs, that Mr. Fillon had received an undeclared loan of 50,000 euros from a friend and that he had been offered luxury suits by another. The former head of government (2007-2012) was indicted, then eliminated in the first round of the presidential election in 2017, before retiring from political life.

He was sentenced in 2020 to five years' imprisonment (two fixed and three suspended), a fine of 375,000 euros and ten years of ineligibility. The prison sentence was reduced on appeal in 2022, falling to four years, one of which is closed.

On April 24, the Court of Cassation announced that François Fillon was definitively found guilty in this case, but ordered a new trial concerning the sentences handed down against her, as well as damages. The conviction of M^me Fillon, also reduced on appeal, was for his part confirmed.