France’s Fillon faces queries over mystery benefactor’s payment for his bespoke suits
Conservative French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon, already dogged by a fake jobs scandal, faced new scrutiny Sunday over a mystery benefactor reportedly paying for his bespoke suits.
Since 2012, Fillon has received clothes worth nearly €48,500 euros (US$51,800) by Arnys, Parisian tailor to the rich and famous, the weekly Journal du Dimanche (JDD) reported.
How far are they going to take this? Are they going to check whether his grandmother had a Russian loan, and if he declared it in his assets statement?
Of that sum, €35,500 was paid in cash, the paper said, adding that a young woman generally delivered the money to the chic Left Bank shop that has catered to the likes of Andy Warhol and Yves Saint Laurent.
An order for two suits completed in early February however was paid for by cheque, signed by a “generous friend” who asked to remain anonymous, the paper said.
“I paid at the request of Francois Fillon,” JDD quoted the cheque’s signatory as saying, adding: “by the way, without receiving the slightest thanks since then.”
Fillon’s spokesman Luc Chatel reacted angrily to the report, denouncing what he called a “gutter campaign” against the candidate.