Reuters - France's financial prosecutor on Thursday said its investigations into fake work allegations surrounding presidential candidate Francois Fillon and his wife would continue.
In a statement, the prosecutor said that "numerous elements collected (by investigators) do not, at this stage, permit the case to be dropped."
A three week-old scandal over hundreds of thousands of euros in taxpayers' money which conservative Fillon's wife was paid for work she may not have done has cost the 62 year-old former prime minister his status as favorite to win the French presidency in May.
The prosecutor did not announce any further steps, but among the choices before it are dropping the case, taking it further by appointing an investigating magistrate, or sending it straight to trial.
