‘France’s rightwing candidate Francois Fillon has refused to quit the presidential race, but has admitted that he made an “error” in hiring his wife and children.
On Monday, Fillon revealed that he had paid his British born wife, Penelope, $730,000 over the course of around 15 years as his parliamentary assistant and had also hired two of his children for around $91,000 some 10 years ago.
Fillon’s presidential bid was recently thrown into turmoil after it emerged that he had been paying family members for alleged fake jobs.
“It was an error, I profoundly regret it and I apologize to the French people,” he said, stressing that he had done nothing illegal and that his family’s jobs and earnings were justifiable.’
Read more: France’s Fillon admits mistake but refuses to leave elections
