Fillon François (François Fillon)

Fillon François (François Fillon)

Biography

2020: Imprisonment for embezzlement of state funds

At the end of June 2020, former French Prime Minister François Fillon and his Welsh-born wife Penelope were sentenced to prison for misappropriation of public funds.

During the court hearing, it became known that Fillon paid his wife and two of his children about 1 million euros for working as his assistants in parliament. In itself, this phenomenon is not considered unusual or illegal in France, where members of parliament and ministers can hire relatives and pay for them at the expense of the state. However, Penelope Fillon's workplace turned out to be fake, and the court found the couple guilty of fraud. The judge noted that Fillon, who served as prime minister under the right-wing radical president Nicolas Sarkozy, undermined confidence in the political class of France.

According to the court, Penelope Fillon received the "maximum possible" salary, and this amount "clearly did not correspond to her activities." Mrs. Fillon, nee Clark, was also found guilty of other fraud. It turned out that she allegedly worked in the monthly French literary, cultural and political magazine Revue des Deux Mondes, which was led by one of her husband's friends. The couple was also convicted of using two older children, Marie and Charles, in fraud.

The court sentenced Fillon to five years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 375,000 euros. He was suspended from public service for 10 years. His wife was given three years of probation. The couple deny all the charges and said they would try to appeal the verdict.

The third defendant, Marc Jouland, who took over Fillon's constituency as a member of parliament and also "hired" Mrs. Fillon, was sentenced to three years probation and fined 20,000 euros.^[1]

2021: Joining the Board of Directors of Sibur Holding

On December 17, 2021, at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders of Sibur Holding PJSC, a new composition of the company's board of directors was elected. It included former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon. More details here.

2022

Withdrawal from Sibur SD and Zarubezhneft due to conflict in Ukraine

On February 25, 2022, Fillon announced his withdrawal from the board of directors of Sibur and Zarubezhneft due to the situation around Ukraine.

Four years' imprisonment, including one year in prison

Former member of the board of directors of Rosneft, ex-Prime Minister of France Fillon and his wife received terms for fictitious employment.

Francois Fillon was sentenced to four years in prison, including a year in prison, his wife Penelope Fillon to two years probation.

The court issued a tougher sentence in this case in 2020 - then the ex-prime minister was appointed five years in prison (of which three were suspended). Lawyers appealed the decision.

In 1998-2013, Fillon's wife and two of his children were listed as his assistants, but did not perform any work. Thus, the family earned more than a million euros.

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