Bruno Le Roux has resigned amid a probe into payments given to his daughters during their summer vacations. The news comes as a similar investigation into presidential candidate Francois Fillon is being expanded.
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French Interior Minister quits
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Le Roux stepped down amid mounting pressure on Tuesday as investigators launched a probe into temporary parliamentary jobs first given to his two daughters when they were teenagers.
The 51-year-old politician's daughters earned a total of 55,000 euros ($59,500) while serving as parliamentary assistants.
Le Roux, a member of the Socialist Party, has denied any wrongdoing, but said he didn't want the investigation to "undermine the work of the government," AFP reported.
His decision came the same day the French financial prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation following a television report on the hirings that aired on Monday night.
Calls for Le Roux to quit
It is not illegal for a French politician to hire his family members. Instead, the controversy stems from allegations in the report that the daughters did not actually perform the duties they were paid to carry out.
What you need to know about Francois Fillon and "Penelopegate"
Francois Fillon is struggling to rebuild his presidential campaign after accusations that he hired family members in "fake jobs". But what exactly has Fillon been accused of - and how has he defended himself?
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Frontrunner no more
Many expected Francois Fillon to be a shoo-in for the presidency. The former French prime minister easily won the conservative primary with 67 percent of the vote. But then Penelopegate hit. Weekly newspaper Canard Enchaine reported that Fillon's wife Penelope and two of his children had received close to one million euros in salaries from Fillon, paid by the state. Fillon's popularity tumbled.
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Working for her husband?
It is not illegal in France to hire family members as parliamentary assistants - provided they have real jobs. Fillon's wife was paid 830,000 euros ($900,000) as a parliamentary assistant for 15 years, working (or - as some have suggested - "working") for Fillon and his replacement in parliament. Police are currently investigating whether Penelope provided services for the salary she received.
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Keeping it in the family
Reporters also revealed that Fillon paid his two oldest children 84,000 euros for working as assistants between 2005 and 2007. Fillon argued that he had hired Marie and Charles Fillon for their legal expertise - though the two were still in law school when they had jobs with their father.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/R. Jensen
More accusations
Penelope was also employed at an art magazine from May 2012 to December 2013, where she was paid roughly 5,000 euros a month. The owner of the magazine had previously been recommended for France's highest honor, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, by then-prime minister Francois Fillon. Fillon has said that these two facts were unrelated.
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A smear campaign?
Fillon has repeatedly denied charges that he used "fake jobs" to enrich his family. He has said that he employed his wife and children because he trusted them and accused the media of running a smear campaign against him. Nevertheless, Penelopegate has severely damaged the campaign of the 63-year old, who has sold himself to French voters as an honest family man keen on cutting public spending.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Desmazes
Certainly not a first
The accusations against Fillon are hardly the first of their kind in France. Ex-President Jacques Chirac was found guilty in 2011 of employing party members in "fake jobs" as mayor of Paris. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy is being investigated for illegal campaign financing, and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is suspected of paying officials in her far-right party with EU funds.
The Elysee presidential office said Matthias Fekl had already been appointed to replace Le Roux.
Fillon probe expanded
Also on Tuesday, investigators said they were expanding the probe into Fillon to include new allegations of fraud, forgery and the use of forgeries.
According to Le Monde newspaper, authorities suspect Fillon and his wife forged documents after news of their jobs scandal first broke in order to prove that Penelope did indeed do the jobs she was paid for.
Fillon's wife earned around 700,000 euros ($757,000) for a suspected fake job as a parliamentary assistant.
