France s Macron lodges legal complaint over offshore account allegations

Paris May 5 (IANS) A French prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that the presidential front-running contender Emmanuel Macron holds an offshore bank account local media reports said.

Earlier on Thursday Macron lodged a legal complaint over allegations made by his rival Marine Le Pen in a televised debate on Wednesday that he held secret funds in a foreign tax heaven Xinhua news agency reported.

I ve never had an account in any tax haven. Le Pen is behind this. She has an internet army mobilizing to spread false information and lies Macron told France Inter Radio.

Speaking to news channel BFMTV Le Pen said that she had no proof her rival had an offshore account.

Hours before Wednesday s debate an anonymous account posted documents on an internet forum allegedly showing the former Economy Minister had an offshore bank account.

The information was quickly distributed online.

In February Macron s staff said their campaign had been the target of cyber attacks targeting databases and e-mail servers.

--IANS
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