How FIFA’s $20B Private-Equity Plan Nearly Broke Soccer

Investigation claims Credit Suisse handled dirty money

Yahoo – AFP, Erwan LUCAS,  20 February 2022 

Credit Suisse has issued a vigorous denial of the allegations (AFP/FABRICE
COFFRINI) (FABRICE COFFRINI)

Credit Suisse handled billions of dollars in dirty money for decades, an international media investigation based on a massive data leak claimed on Sunday, in the latest setback for Switzerland's second-largest bank. 

The bank held more than $8 billion (seven billion euros) in accounts of criminals, dictators and human rights abusers, among others, according to the investigation by a group comprising dozens of media organisations. 

Credit Suisse rejected the "allegations and insinuations", saying in a statement that many of the issues raised were historical, some dating back more than 70 years. 

According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit journalism group, the "Suisse Secrets" investigation began when an anonymous source shared bank data with German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung more than a year ago. 

That information, covering accounts collectively worth $100 billion at their highest point, was trawled through by 48 media outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, Le Monde and The Guardian. 

Accounts identified as problematic held over $8 billion in assets, the investigation found. 

The accounts included those held by a Yemeni spy chief implicated in torture, the sons of an Azerbaijani strongman, a Serbian drug lord and bureaucrats accused of looting Venezuela's oil wealth. 

It was the largest leak ever from a major Swiss bank, OCCRP said. 

'Tendentious interpretations' 

The leak included information on more than 18,000 bank accounts, many of which "remained open well into the 2010s", said the OCCRP. 

In its statement Sunday, the bank said: "Credit Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and insinuations about the bank's purported business practices. 

"The matters presented are predominantly historical, in some cases dating back as far as the 1940s, and the accounts of these matters based on partial, inaccurate, or selective information taken out of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank's business conduct." 

About 90 percent of the accounts reviewed were closed -- or were in the process of being closed -- before the press approached the bank, it added. And more than 60 percent of them had been closed before 2015. 

The OCCRP, in a statement on its website, said: "We believe the dozens of examples we have cited raise serious questions about Credit Suisse's effectiveness and commitment to meeting its responsibilities." 

It said the investigation had found dozens of "dubious characters" in the data, including some linked to government officials. 

Among those listed as holding accounts with Credit Suisse were the sons of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II. 

When asked why so many of these accounts existed, current and former Credit Suisse employees described a work culture that incentivised taking on risk to maximise profits, according to OCCRP. 

"I've too often seen criminals and corrupt politicians who can afford to keep on doing business as usual, no matter what the circumstances, because they have the certainty that their ill-gotten gains will be kept safe and always within their reach," said OCCRP co-founder Paul Radu in a statement. 

A series of setbacks 

The international investigation is the latest in a series of setbacks that Credit Suisse has suffered recently. 

In March 2021, the bank was hit by the collapse of Greensill Capital in which it had committed some $10 billion dollars through four funds. The implosion of the US fund Archegos cost it more than $5 billion. 

And in Switzerland, a former Credit Suisse employee is among the defendants in a major corruption trial that has just started and involves alleged money laundering and organised crime in Bulgaria. The bank has said it will "defend itself vigorously in court". 

Experts say draconian banking secrecy laws in Switzerland effectively silence insiders or journalists who may want to expose wrongdoing within a Swiss bank, according to OCCRP. 

A Swiss media group was unable to participate in the investigation due to the risk of criminal prosecution, the organisation said.

US judge dismisses NRA bankruptcy petition in blow to gun group

Yahoo – AFP, May 11, 2021

NRA leader Wayne LaPierre seen in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 26, 2019

A US judge rejected Tuesday a bankruptcy attempt by the National Rifle Association, ruling that the gun lobby group filed the petition to dodge a corruption probe in New York. 

The verdict is a victory for the New York investigation, which seeks to dissolve the powerful conservative organization. 

"The Court finds that the NRA did not file the bankruptcy petition in good faith because this filing was not for a purpose intended or sanctioned by the bankruptcy code," Judge Harlin Hale wrote. 

The verdict deals a blow to the NRA, which for decades has been able to shape major political races by endorsing pro-gun candidates. 

"Although we are disappointed in some aspects of the decision, there is no change in the overall direction of our Association, its programs or its Second Amendment advocacy," the NRA said in a statement. 

The NRA announced in January that it was filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors and moving its headquarters from New York to Texas. 

The organization and one of its subsidiaries filed petitions for so-called Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Dallas court. 

The NRA said its decision to reincorporate its non-profit status in Texas would ensure that in the future it is "free from the toxic political environment in New York." 

New York state announced in August of last year that it was suing the NRA and its leader Wayne LaPierre for financial fraud and misconduct, aiming to dissolve the organization. 

State Attorney General Letitia James said LaPierre and three other top NRA officials had used the dues and donations of members for years as their "personal piggy bank." 

They spent tens of millions of dollars on themselves and cronies in violation of laws governing non-profit organizations, according to Letitia's office. 

James, a Democrat, denied she was acting on political motives. 

"The @NRA does not get to dictate if and where it will answer for its actions, and our case will continue in New York court," James tweeted following Tuesday's ruling.

Scandal-hit Greensill parent group enters liquidation

Yahoo – AFP, Roland JACKSON, 22 April 2021 

Administrators will wind down Greensill activities and attempt to sell off parts
of the business, which was founded in 2011 by Australian Lex Greensill

The Australian parent of failed specialist finance firm Greensill Capital, whose recent collapse sparked worldwide corporate fallout and a political scandal in Britain, has entered liquidation, administrators said Thursday. 

The demise of Greensill Capital Pty Ltd is the latest chapter in a saga that has ensnared Conservative politicians including ex-prime minister David Cameron. 

The company had filed for bankruptcy last month for its operations in Britain, and also in Australia where its parent group is based and Germany where it has a banking arm. 

Greensill's implosion threatens about 50,000 jobs at companies that relied on its supply chain financing, including the steel empire of Indian-British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta. 

Greensill Capital Pty Ltd, which is the parent company of the Global Greensill Group, had provided head office support and sourced funding for the finance giant's operations. 

Creditors including Credit Suisse, Japan's SoftBank and the Association of German Banks met online early Thursday and "resolved to place the company into liquidation", according to a statement from administrators Grant Thornton. 

The administrator provided an overview of the company to its 41 creditors and their representatives, who then voted in favour of liquidation. 

Administrators will now wind down activities and attempt to sell off chunks of the business, which was founded in 2011 by Australian Lex Greensill. 

"As of today, the company is now in liquidation," Grant Thornton added in the statement. 

"The liquidators will continue to identify and realise available assets, monitor developments in relation to the administrations of Greensill UK and the Greensill Bank AG, and continue their investigations in relation to Greensill Capital Pty Limited in liquidation." 

Cameron in firing line 

The controversial company specialised in short-term corporate loans via a complex business model that ultimately sparked its declaration of insolvency. 

Lex Greensill had obtained inside access to the Downing Street machine of then-premier Cameron, on the promise of helping to provide the government with the latest thinking on financial technology. 

Cameron was forced to step down following Britain's Brexit referendum in 2016, and two years later became an adviser to Greensill Capital, amassing share options that were potentially worth millions. 

This year, he privately lobbied senior officials including finance minister Rishi Sunak for government support before the firm's business model of supplying interim finance to companies imploded, rendering his share options worthless. 

Cameron is most directly in the firing line because of his personal and undeclared lobbying, but denies any impropriety. 

The Greensill scandal now faces heightened scrutiny in Britain, where the government already faces cronyism allegations over key contracts linked to its Covid-19 response. 

Parliament's Treasury Committee has launched an inquiry into Greensill's collapse, with appearances widely expected from Cameron, Sunak, and Lex Greensill. 

Greensill faces a string of other inquiries in Britain, with the National Audit Office also probing the firm's involvement in Covid-19 support schemes and state monitoring of its activities. 

Labour leader Keir Starmer slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday over government "sleaze" involving preferential access given to both Greensill and pro-Brexit billionaire entrepreneur James Dyson.

$10 mn pay-cut for Goldman Sachs CEO over 1MDB scandal

Yahoo – AFP, January 27, 2021 

Goldman Sachs CEO David Michael Solomon saw his salary cut
due to the 1MDB Malaysian bribery scandal 

Goldman Sachs cut its CEO David Solomon's 2020 salary by $10 million to $17.5 million because of the bank's role in the 1MDB Malaysian bribery scandal, according to documents filed Tuesday. 

"The amounts of remuneration reflect the decision announced by the board of directors," said a securities filing that also detailed pay-cuts for COO John Waldron and CFO Stephen Scherr. 

Although the three were not "aware of the firm's participation in any illicit activity at the time the firm arranged the 1MDB bond transactions, the Board views the 1MDB matter as an institutional failure," it said. 

Goldman Sachs pleaded guilty in October over its role in the scandal, and agreed to pay nearly $3 billion to close US investigations. 

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak was sentenced last year to 12 years in jail on corruption charges linked to the scandal that led to the downfall of his government.

Goldman Sachs agrees to largest penalty ever in 1MDB scandal

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2020 

The Malaysian unit of global financial titan Goldman Sachs pleaded guilty
in a US court in the massive 1MDB Malaysian bribery scandal

Global financial titan Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $2.9 billion in penalties to settle criminal charges in the 1MDB Malaysian bribery scandal, the largest US fine ever in a corruption case, the Justice Department announced Thursday. 

Acting US Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt said Goldman "accepted responsibility" in the case that involved $1.6 billion in bribes, the largest ever recorded, and massive gains laundered through the US financial system. 

Goldman Sachs helped raise $6.5 billion for the Malaysian government's sovereign wealth fund, and the US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by high-level officials at the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2015. 

The investment fund "was looted by corrupt officials and their co-conspirators, including senior Goldman bankers" turning it "into a piggy bank for corrupt public officials and their cronies," Rabbitt said at a press briefing. 

In a first for Goldman Sachs, the company's Malaysian unit pleaded guilty in a US court Thursday for violations of US bribery law as part of a deal to end the criminal probe in the sweeping case that involved authorities in nine countries. 

The guilty plea could curtail activities of Goldman Sachs Malaysia but allows the parent company to avoid admitting wrongdoing in court -- which would have damaged its ability to do business. 

'Meaningful consequences' 

The parent company pleaded not guilty in US court and agreed to "deferred prosecution" for three-and-a-half years, which is expected to impose certain conditions including increased monitoring. 

But Rabbitt stressed that the company has been charged in the bribery scandal, "so there has been a significant amount of criminal liability" for Goldman and "imposes meaningful consequences" in the cases. 

The Justice Department has charged three individuals in the case including two former Goldman executives. Tim Leissner, the former Southeast Asia Chairman, has pleaded guilty, while Ng Chong Hwa, also known as "Roger Ng," former head of investment banking for GS Malaysia, is awaiting trial, and Low Taek Jho remains a fugitive. 

"Goldman admitted today that, in order to effectuate the scheme, Leissner, Ng, Employee 1, and others conspired with Low Taek Jho" to pay the bribes and ignored red flags, the statement said. 

In another stunning turn, the company said it will demand repayment $174 million in salary and bonuses paid to current and former executives including Chief Executive David Solomon and his predecessor Lloyd Blankfein. 

These so-called clawbacks are almost unheard of in corporate cases. 

Solomon said in a statement "it is abundantly clear that certain former employees broke the law, lied to our colleagues and circumvented firm controls,"adding, "we recognize that we did not adequately address red flags." 

Included in the total penalty amount, Goldman will pay a $400 fines to the SEC and repay $600 million in earnings, and pay a $154 million fine to the Federal Reserve which also will require the company to improve its risk management and internal oversight. 

The Malaysian government dropped the charges against Goldman in July after reaching a $3.9 billion settlement with the financial giant. 

The firm, which posted profits of $3.5 billion in the latest quarter, had set aside more than $3.1 billion as of September 30 "for litigation and regulatory proceedings."

Related Article:

Goldman Sachs fined US$350 million in Hong Kong over1MDB

Vatican announces surprise resignation of top cardinal

France24 – AFP, 24 September 2020

Vatican City (AFP) - One of the most influential Vatican cardinals, Angelo Becciu from Italy, resigned his position unexpectedly on Thursday, the Holy See announced without explanation.

"The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the Cardinalate, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu," a one-line statement late on Thursday said.

After a career as a Vatican emissary, Becciu has worked for the last six years as the Substitute for General Affairs, a role akin as chief of staff which means he sees Pope Francis daily and is one of his most trusted aides. 

The 72-year-old was named as a cardinal in summer 2018 and has also had responsibility for the department that oversees beatifications and sainthoods. 

His surprise resignation could be a sanction. 

He has been linked in the past to an investigation underway within the Vatican over the last year into a property development in the exclusive Chelsea area of London which was paid for with offshore funds and companies. 

The process to invest in the scheme to build luxury apartments began in 2014 when Becciu was in the Vatican secretariat, the central bureaucracy of the Holy See. 

The Vatican's police force raided the offices of the secretariat last year to seize financial documents and computers, while five members of staff were suspended. 

Becciu defended the purchase at the beginning of the year during an interview.

Spain's ex-king Juan Carlos heads for exile under corruption cloud

Yahoo – AFP, August 3, 2020

Spain's former king Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 (AFP Photo/JAIME REINA)

Madrid (AFP) - Spain's former king Juan Carlos, who is facing investigation at home and abroad for corruption, announced Monday that he plans to go into exile.

The 82-year-old revealed he would leave the country in a letter to his son, the current King Felipe VI who accepted his decision, the royal palace said in a statement.

"Guided by the conviction to best serve the people of Spain, its institutions, and you as king, I inform you of my decision at this time to go into exile outside Spain," Juan Carlos wrote.

"It's a decision I take with deep anguish, but great peace of mind," he said.

Probes are under way in Switzerland and Spain where media regularly publish details of the murky management of funds allegedly paid to the former head of state by Saudi Arabia.

Spain's Supreme Court announced in June an investigation to determine the legal responsibility of the ex-monarch -- but because of the immunity he holds only for acts committed after his abdication.

The suspicions focus on $100 million (85 million euros) alleged to have been paid secretly into a Swiss bank account in 2008.

Juan Carlos ascended the throne in 1975 on the death of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco and ruled for 38 years before abdicating in favour of his son Felipe VI in June 2014.

He was a popular figure for decades, playing a key role in the democratic transition from the Franco dictatorship which ruled Spain from 1939-1975.

But an inquiry opened in Spain in September 2018 following the publication of records attributed to German businesswoman Corinna Larsen, allegedly a one-time mistress of Juan Carlos.

She claimed he had received a commission when a consortium of Spanish companies were awarded a high-speed railway contract to link the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Larsen told Swiss investigators he had transferred her nearly 65 million euros in the Bahamas, "not to get rid of the money" but "out of gratitude and out of love", according to El Pais daily.

Swiss media reported last March that Juan Carlos was paid 100 million dollars into a Panamanian foundation's Swiss bank account by then Saudi king Abdullah in 2008.

The same month The Daily Telegraph in Britain reported that Felipe VI was also a beneficiary of the foundation.

The king withdrew from his father an annual royal allowance of nearly 200,000 euros and renounced his inheritance "to preserve the exemplariness of the crown".

Online outlet El Espanol reported that Swiss lawyer Dante Canonica told the Geneva public prosecutor's office he had been instructed to "create a structure" to hide the funds paid to Juan Carlos.

Thousands of Israelis rally against Netanyahu

Yahoo – AFP, August 1, 2020

A bandana-clad protester blows a shofar, an ancient musical horn, as he
 walks alongside others during a demonstration against Israel's Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (AFP Photo/MENAHEM KAHANA)

Jerusalem (AFP) - Thousands protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu across Israel on Saturday night, demanding he resign over alleged corruption and a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

The protests took place at scores of intersections and bridges, where people held banners accusing Netanyahu of "failure" and calling for his resignation, as well as outside his private residence in the northern town Caesarea.

The main event took place outside the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, where organisers said thousands demanded Netanyahu step down.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds protested against rising unemployment and the government's alleged failure to support self-employed people who have lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic, media reports said.

Wearing face masks to forestall coronavirus transmission, protestors carried signs accusing Netanyahu, whose graft trial is ongoing at the Jerusalem district court, of corruption and failing to resolve the coronavirus crisis and the related economic malaise.

Israel won praise for its initial response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the government has come under criticism amid a resurgence in cases after restrictions were lifted starting in late April. Netanyahu has himself acknowledged that the economy was re-opened too quickly.

The country of some nine million people has so far recorded over 72,000 confirmed cases, including 523 deaths.

The protests have been going on for weeks, with Netanyahu on Saturday night accusing private television channels 12 and 13 of "delivering propaganda for the anarchist Leftwing demonstrations" by providing extensive coverage of the rallies.

"They are desperately trying to brainwash the public, in order to bring down a strong prime minister from the Right," his Likud party wrote in a post re-tweeted by Netanyahu on Twitter.

Netanyahu further accused the media of "ignoring the violent nature of the protests and the calls in them to murder the prime minister and his family".

Malaysia in $3.9 bn settlement with Goldman over 1MDB

Yahoo – AFP, Sam Reeves, July 24, 2020

Factfile on the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia. (AFP Photo/John SAEKI)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Malaysia reached a $3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs Friday over the Wall Street titan's role in the 1MDB scandal in exchange for the country ending all criminal proceedings against the bank.

Billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad in a fraud that allegedly involved former prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies.

The cash plundered from state coffers bankrolled a global spending spree, and was spent on everything from artwork, to real estate and a super-yacht.

Goldman's role came under scrutiny over bond issues totalling $6.5 billion it helped arrange for the investment vehicle, with Malaysia claiming large amounts were misappropriated during the process.

Najib lost power in 2018 amid public anger at the scandal, and a new government charged Goldman and a string of former and current employees over the fraud, as well as demanding hefty compensation.

Malaysia and Goldman had been locked in long-running talks, and the country's finance ministry announced a breakthrough had finally been achieved.

The settlement comprises a cash payment of $2.5 billion to Malaysia and a guarantee that at least $1.4 billion in assets acquired with misappropriated funds would be recovered, it said.

"This settlement represents assets that rightfully belong to the Malaysian people," Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said.

"We are confident that we are securing more money from Goldman Sachs compared to previous attempts, which were far below expectations."

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin hailed a "victory" and said that, combined with 1MDB-linked funds already returned to Malaysia by the US, the country will receive a total of $4.5 billion.

Ex-PM Najib Razak is currently facing three, 1MDB-linked trials, and the verdict 

in the first is due to be handed down Tuesday (AFP Photo/Mohd RASFAN)

'Important step'

However, the previous Malaysian government, which lost power earlier this year, had demanded $7.5 billion in compensation from Goldman.

When they charged the Goldman, Malaysian prosecutors had accused the bank of making false statements which led to $2.7 billion being misappropriated in relation to the bond issues.

But after Malaysia announced the settlement, Goldman said the deal resolves "all the criminal and regulatory proceedings in Malaysia involving the firm".

"Today's settlement is an important step towards putting the 1MDB matter behind us and will help enable the Malaysian government to move forward with additional recovery efforts," it said.

After losing power at the 2018 elections, Najib was hit with dozens of charges linked to the controversy and is currently facing three trials. On Tuesday, a court will hand down its verdict in his first trial over the scandal.

He denies wrongdoing.

A former Goldman partner, Tim Leissner, has previously pleaded guilty in the US over his part in the controversy.

A Malaysian former managing director at the bank, Ng Chong Hwa, has also been charged in the US and Malaysia over the scandal.

The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the fraud as huge sums were allegedly laundered through the US financial system, says that about $4.5 billion was looted from 1MDB.

The scandal's alleged mastermind, jet-setting Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, has also been charged in Malaysia and the US.

Low denies any wrongdoing, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Philippine officials faked data showing ex-Wirecard exec in country

MSN – AFP, 4 July 2020

Philippine immigration officers falsified records to show ex-Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek briefly visited the country after he was sacked from the collapsed German payments processor, the justice minister said Saturday.

Wirecard has admitted that 1.9 billion euros missing from its accounts likely

did not exist

German and Philippine authorities want to question the former chief operating officer as part of their separate investigations into the Wirecard accounting scandal, but his whereabouts are unclear.

Entries in the Bureau of Immigration database show Marsalek arrived in the Philippines on June 23 -- the day after he was fired -- and left for China on June 24.

But CCTV footage, airline manifests and other records prove Marsalek was not in the country on those dates, minister Menardo Guevarra said in a statement.

"The investigation has now turned to the persons who made the false entries in the database, their motives, and their cohorts," Guevarra said.

The immigration employees have been stood down and face punishment. Investigators were also looking into "possible criminal responsibility" for the fake entries, he said.

Guevarra told reporters last month that immigration records showing Marsalek's transit through the Philippine city of Cebu could be part of "diversionary tactics to mislead Marsalek's pursuers".

Marsalek was responsible for the Asia business that became the focus of accounting irregularities -- including a missing 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) supposedly banked in the Philippines -- that ultimately brought Wirecard down.

Wirecard has filed for insolvency and admitted that the 1.9 billion euros likely did not exist.

Marsalek failed to turn himself in to Munich investigators despite a reported earlier promise to do so.

Wirecard's former chief executive and founder Markus Braun was bailed for five million euros last week after reporting to prosecutors over charges of falsifying accounts.

The assets supposedly held in trust accounts at two Philippine banks were to cover risks in trading carried out by third parties on Wirecard's behalf.

But the Philippines' central bank said the cash never entered the country's financial system and both banks, BDO and BPI, have denied having a relationship with Wirecard.

As part of the Philippine probe, Guevarra said Manila-based lawyer Mark Tolentino, the trustee of the Wirecard deposits, gave a statement to investigators on Monday.

"Tolentino said he was hired by his principal early this year to provide consultancy services," Guevarra said.

"He said he's receiving death threats."

French ex-PM Fillon gets two-year term in fake job scandal

Yahoo – AFP, Juliette MONTESSE and Joseph SCHMID, June 29, 2020

The case against the Fillons was widely seen as a test of whether French politicians 
would now be held to account after decades of getting off lightly on charges of 
nepotism or financial misconduct (AFP Photo/Thomas SAMSON)

Paris (AFP) - A Paris court on Monday sentenced French former prime minister Francois Fillon to five years in prison, three suspended, for orchestrating a fake job for his wife in a scandal that cost him his shot at the presidency in 2017.

Fillon's wife Penelope was given a suspended three-year sentence for participating in the scheme that saw her paid over one million euros in public funds over a 15-year period.

The case was widely seen as a test of whether French politicians would now be held to account after decades of getting off lightly on charges of nepotism or financial misconduct.

Fillon and his wife were also ordered to pay fines of 375,000 euros ($423,000) each.

Presiding judge Nathalie Gavarino said Fillon, 66, pursued "personal enrichment" over the common good and "contributed to an erosion of public trust" in elected leaders.

A third defendant, Marc Joulaud -- who stood in for Fillon in parliament when he was a cabinet minister and who also hired Penelope Fillon as an assistant -- was given a suspended three-year sentence.

The three were ordered to collectively reimburse one million euros to the National Assembly, where Penelope supposedly worked as Fillon's parliamentary assistant from 1998 to 2013.

Facing two years behind bars, Fillon was allowed to leave the courthouse a free man, for now, after the couple's lawyers said they would appeal.

"Obviously, this ruling is not fair," Fillon's lawyer Antonin Levy said.

The couple did not make any statement to dozens of journalists gathered as they left the courthouse.

Francois and Penelope Fillon and another defendant have been ordered to reimburse 

the National Assembly for one million euros (AFP Photo/Eric FEFERBERG)

Swift downfall

The allegations that Fillon pilfered public coffers for years pummelled his image as an upright fiscal hawk promising to right the country's finances -- and loomed large in the "yellow vest" anti-government protests that rocked the country in 2018-2019.

A newspaper report on the fake job surfaced in January 2017, just after Fillon clinched the nomination from his rightwing Republicans party for a presidential race he was widely tipped to win.

It later emerged Fillon had used public money to pay two of his children a combined 117,000 euros for sham work while he was a senator, before becoming premier in the government of then-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

The court Monday convicted the couple on this charge too, and for Penelope's receipt of 135,000 euros for largely fictitious "consulting work" for the millionaire owner of a literary magazine.

Defence lawyers struggled at the trial this year to provide documented proof that she actually did any work -- and the head of the magazine, Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere, had already pleaded guilty to the fake job charges.

The court on Monday barred Fillon from holding public office for 10 years, while Penelope received a two-year ban.

If the ruling is upheld, she will have to abandon the local council seat she was re-elected to last March in the northern town of Solesmes.

(AFP Photo/Aurelia MOUSSLY, Laetitia PERON)

'Penelopegate'

Fillon's lawyers sought to have the trial restarted after the former head of the Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), Eliane Houlette, told lawmakers this month she had met with "pressure" to bring charges quickly against the ex-premier.

But the court rejected this request Monday, even though President Emmanuel Macron -- whose path was cleared by Fillon's downfall -- has asked for an investigation into the prosecutor's claims.

"Penelopegate," as the scandal became known, torpedoed the career of one of France's right-wing stars, who was the youngest member of parliament when first elected at just 27 years old.

Fillon met his Welsh-born wife while she was studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, and the couple soon married and moved to an imposing country estate near Le Mans where they raised their five children.

Penelope Fillon told the court she spent a lot of time sorting her husband's mail, attending public events near their rural manor and gathering information for his speeches.

But investigators seized on a 2016 newspaper interview in which she said: "Until now, I have never got involved in my husband's political life."

Fillon insists he was set up for "political assassination" by his rivals and was the victim of a biased judiciary.

Spanish king distances himself from scandal-hit father

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2020

Juan Carlos handed over power to his son, Felipe in 2014 (AFP Photo/Juanjo Martín)

Madrid (AFP) - King Felipe VI of Spain moved Sunday to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Reported Saudi payments to ex-king

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, $65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.