After several hours of questioning on Wednesday, a Paris judge declared that there was enough evidence against Jacques Chirac to open a formal investigation, a judicial step that could lead to charges being filed.

The case dates back to Chirac's time as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995 and is part of a larger corruption probe concerning the misuse of city funds.

Chirac, the first former president of modern-day France to face an official investigation, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. He benefited from legal immunity as president until he stepped down in May of this year.

Non-employees supposedly on city payroll

The allegations against Chirac involve fake jobs purportedly given to members of his Rally for the Republic Party (RPR) by the Paris city hall. In particular, the salary of a chauffeur for a senator from Chirac's former party has been called into question, DPA news agency reported.

"On the issue of principle, he considers that the jobs were perfectly legitimate and that they were good policy for the city hall," Chirac's lawyer Jean Veil told reporters Wednesday after the court appointment -- the second round of questioning since he handed over the presidency.

Another meeting would follow "in a few months," added Veil.

Chirac says all the jobs were legitimate

Chirac wrote in an opinion column published Wednesday in Le Monde daily: "The funds of the city of Paris were never used for any ambition other than to act for the Parisians. There never was any personal enrichment.

"I wanted or authorized these recruitments because they were both legitimate and necessary," he wrote.

However, writing in Le Monde after being questioned in July on a similar matter involving public funds, Chirac had said that all political parties turned a blind eye to financing irregularities in the 1980s and early 1990s, but that this should be viewed in the context of the time.

Chirac's case may have the highest profile, but he does not stand alone in the scandal. Four of his chiefs of staff from the period between 1983 and 1995 have already been placed under investigation and some 20 people have been implicated in the broader embezzlement affair, according to reports.