France, Sept. 30 -- France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen, her National Rally party, and 25 other individuals go on trial on Monday in Paris over alleged misappropriation of European funds. A guilty verdict could scupper Le Pen's chances of running for president in the 2027.

Le Pen and her 25 colleagues - including current and former French lawmakers and MEPs - are accused of embezzling public funds and collusion.

Prosecutors claim that the defendants set up a fake jobs scheme using European parliamentary funds to pay for assistants who in fact worked for her National Rally party, formerly called the National Front, rather than on European affairs.

The scheme, which ran from 2004 to 2016, was in breach of EU rules.

The EU Parliament...