PARIS, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Investigators are searching the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament, as part of an inquiry into allegations that the wife of presidential front-runner Francois Fillon had been paid millions of euros for a fake job, news channel BFMTV reported on Tuesday.
Officers from the central office against corruption and financial offences raided French parliament to uncover evidence that Penelope Fillon had really been her husband's parliamentary assistant, according to the report.
Investigators on Monday questioned the Fillon couple to determine whether Penelope had worked for her husband between 1998 and 2002 and, after, for his successor Marc Joulaud.
Speaking to RTL radio earlier on Tuesday, Antonin Levy, Fillon's defense lawyer said the conservative presidential contender "is calm, naturally, because...he has no doubt that the outcome of this procedure will be favorable."
"(Fillion) is happy to have been able to defend his honor and that of his wife in the face of all these...disgusting accusations," he said.
Last week, financial prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into the possible "misuse of public funds" and "misappropriation of assets," after media reports claimed that Penelope had been paid hefty salaries for a fictitious job.
The satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine had claimed that the British-born Fillon's wife had been paid 600,000 euros (645,600 U.S. dollars) for her job as a parliamentary assistant to her husband and for work at a cultural journal.
However, there was no evidence she had really worked, the report said.
Under French law, it's legal for lawmakers to hire family members as their assistants, but it's illegal to pay them for a job they don't do.
With his presidential bid at stake over the Penelope affair, Fillon rejected the allegation, stressing that his wife's work was "real...legal and perfectly transparent," and which included press review preparation, meeting people for him, and correcting his speeches.
"Through Penelope, they are trying to break me. I'm not afraid of anything, I've got a thick skin," he said at a big rally on Sunday.
The latest opinion surveys showed Fillon losing momentum after his wife's fake job scandal, but he remains well placed to take over the Elysee Palace.
