The former French president faces allegations that he misused public funds by inventing job contracts for friends and colleagues while he was mayor of Paris.
Jacques Chirac was immune from prosecution while he was president, from 1995 to 2007. He is accused of diverting public funds and abuse of trust while serving as mayor of Paris. (Oliver Weiken/ European Pressphoto Agency / November 6, 2006)
Reporting from Paris - A French magistrate Friday ordered former President Jacques Chirac to stand trial on charges of misusing millions of dollars in public funds as mayor of Paris by allegedly paying friends and colleagues for work they did not perform.
Magistrate Xaviere Simeoni led the investigation into allegations that Chirac invented job contracts for several friends and colleagues while he was mayor from 1977 to 1995. He is accused of paying them more than $5 million in public-funded salaries.
Simeoni ruled Friday that there was enough evidence to try Chirac on charges of diverting public funds and abuse of trust -- even though the state prosecutor recommended the charges be dropped.
Nine others have also been sent to trial, according to wire reports.
Chirac was immune from prosecution during his presidency, from 1995 until 2007.
In a statement, Chirac said he was "serene" and ready to prove that the salaries in question corresponded to legitimate work completed.
In an investigative interview with Simeoni, reprinted by the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, the former president often said he did not remember anything about several employees who appeared to be paid for doing nothing.
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