French judicial police are questioning far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's bodyguard and chief of staff in relation to a probe into alleged
misuse of European Union funds to pay parliamentary assistants, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

Marcel Ceccaldi said that the affair was a "manipulation" aimed at destabilising the National Front's (FN) election campaign. Le Pen has previously denied any wrongdoing.

The case was initially launched by European Parliament anti-fraud authorities in early 2015, before the case was passed to Paris.

Earlier this month, Le Pen missed a deadline set by the European Parliament for her to make an initial repayment of 298,000 euros. Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the allegedly fictional job contract was submitted as part of an accounting adjustment.

FN is a political party long accused of holding anti-Semitic, anti-Islam, xenophobic and racist views.