Former French presidential candidate Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope will face trial over the fake jobs scandal that destroyed his 2017 campaign, Telegraph reported quoting AFP.

Fillon, who at one point was the front-runner in France’s 2017 presidential race, saw his bid unravel over allegations he paid his wife Penelope, who comes from Wales, and two of their children more than one million euros over many years for jobs as parliamentary aides that involved no sustained work.

A judicial official confirmed a report in Le Monde newspaper that the couple will stand trial, Daily Mail reported. 

Fillon has denied wrongdoing, contending the allegations were a smear campaign to undo his presidential bid. The scandal damaged Fillon’s bid for the presidency and in the end he was eliminated in the first round. Fillon was handed preliminary charges in March 2017, including for misuse of public funds and improper declaration of assets.

His wife, from Abergavenny, was also charged that year with misuse of public funds, receiving money from a misuse of company assets and receiving money from a fraud.