French far-right leader Marine Le Pen lost an EU court challenge against a European Parliament order to pay back almost €300,000 ($346,700) after being accused of misusing funds earmarked for aides’ salaries. Le Pen failed to show that the amount of money received was used to pay for genuine work by an assistant, the EU General Court said in a ruling in Luxembourg on Tuesday. The decision can be appealed, Bloomberg reported. Le Pen said last month she might run again for president in 2022 if she is the best-placed within her side of the French political spectrum. The European Parliament said in 2016 that €298,498 had been unduly paid to Le Pen for the period from December 2010 to February 2016. It gave her until January 2017 to pay the sums back or have it deducted from her monthly parliamentary salary.
