FRANCE’S rightwing presidential candidate Francois Fillon was charged Tuesday with several offenses over a fake jobs scandal, including misuse of public funds, his lawyer said.

    “He was charged this morning. The hearing was brought forward so that it could take place in a calm manner,” lawyer Antonin Levy said.

    He was also charged with misuse of corporate assets, Levy said.

    Fillon, 63, had been expected to go before investigating magistrates yesterday over the scandal, which has undermined his campaign for the presidency only six weeks from the first round of the election.

    Following revelations in the Canard Enchaine newspaper at the end of January, the conservative candidate admitted to employing his wife Penelope and two of their children as parliamentary assistants, but has denied any wrongdoing.

    Penelope was paid hundreds of thousands of euros (dollars) from public funds between 1986 and 2013, but she is accused of doing little work for the salary.

    From May 2012 to December 2013, while employed at the parliament, Penelope was also paid 3,500 euros (US$3,700) a month by a magazine owned by a friend of Fillon, the tycoon Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere.

    After initially saying he would withdraw from the presidential race if charged, Fillon has vowed to continue, calling the investigation an attempted “political assassination.”

    (SD-Agencies)