François Fillon suffers fresh blow as investigating judge to probe 'fake job' allegations against his British wife

Conservative French presidential candidate Francois Fillon moved a step closer to being charged on Friday night after a financial prosecutor asked an investigative judge to launch a probe into whether his British wife was paid large sums of money for a fictitious job.

The prosecutor had been conducting a preliminary probe into allegations that Penelope Fillon received more than €900,000 (£764,000)  for a "fake job" as parliamentary assistant to her husband and his successor over several years.

He has denied any wrongdoing in a case dubbed "Penelopegate".

The affair has seen Mr Fillon, candidate for Right-wing The Republicans, lose ground in opinion polls, with the latest suggesting he stands to be eliminated by Front National candidate Marine Le Pen and independent rival Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the presidential election on April 23. 

The prosecutor could have chosen to appoint an investigating magistrate on the case, send it straight to trial or drop it.

In the event, he chose to appoint a magistrate with more powers to investigate, including tapping phones or placing suspects under house arrest.

It is unclear whether the probe will be concluded before the presidential election, scheduled for April 23 and May 7. Mr Fillon has previously pledged to step down should be be formally placed under investigation, but later implied he would not do so, questioning the partiality of the prosecutor.

Under French law, the investigation would be suspended for the five-year presidential term should he be elected.

The Fillons have already been questioned by investigators but Mrs Fillon has declined to speak to the media.

On Friday, her husband said: "Penelope is ready to talk, but for now I'm not for it."

Mr Fillon's legal team said it was confident that any probe would result in Mr Fillon and his wife being found innocent.

His lawyers also reiterated their earlier criticism of the legal process, saying leaks to French media about details of the case were unacceptable.

The development came as Ms Le Pen was locked in a standoff with French judges after refusing to respond to a summons over allegations she made illegal EU payments to her staff.

Ms Le Pen will not comply with any summons until after elections this year, said her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut.

She has the right to refuse police interviews because she enjoys parliamentary immunity as an MEP. Judges can seek to have her immunity lifted, but the process could take months, lawyers said.

However, Bernard Cazeneuve, the Socialist prime minister, warned the anti-immigration, anti-EU leader on Friday that no presidential candidate should "place themselves above the laws of the French Republic".

Ms Le Pen's chief of staff was put under formal investigation this week after a day of questioning over the alleged misuse of EU funds to pay parliamentary assistants.

Her bodyguard was also questioned but was later released without being placed under investigation.

On Friday, Ms Le Pen, 48, who has denied any wrongdoing and says she is the victim of "political dirty tricks", justified her decision to ignore the summons by saying: "I am not obstructing justice, I'm obstructing injustice."

The European parliament has accused Ms Le Pen as MEP of paying FN party staff with EU funds which it says should only be spent on European parliamentary assistants.

It has demanded Ms Le Pen pay back nearly €340,000 and, faced with her refusal to repay the money, has said it will start docking her salary in order to recover the funds.

A poll on Friday suggested Ms Le Pen would take 26 of the vote in the first round of the presidential election on 26 per cent, with Mr Macron surging to 23.5 per cent versus Mr Fillon's 20.5 per cent. She would go to lose to Mr Macron by 38.5 per cent to his 61.5 per cent.