French far-right leader Marine Le Pen faces one of the defining days of her political career on Monday, when a court rules whether she is guilty of embezzlement in a trial that could see her barred from the 2027 presidential race.

A French court on Monday will rule in the trial of far-right leader Marine Le Pen over an alleged fake jobs scam at the EU parliament, a verdict which could ruin her chances of standing in the next presidential elections in two years.

Prosecutors have accused Ms. Le Pen and other members of the National Rally of embezzling some $4.8 million in European Union funds, essentially through no-show jobs at the European Parliament for lawmaker “assistants,” who were rarely there and worked as party staff.