Image copyright AP Image caption Bruno Le Roux said he did not want the investigation to "undermine the work of the government"

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux has resigned over a "fake jobs" row involving work he gave his two daughters when they were teenagers.

Mr Le Roux told a news conference that he felt it was his "responsibility", but denied wrongdoing.

It is alleged that his daughters were being paid for work while involved in other activities.

The Socialist minister has repeatedly insisted that the summer jobs were legitimate.

French President Francois Hollande said he had accepted Mr Le Roux's resignation and named Trade Minister Matthias Fekl as his successor.

Centre-right presidential candidate Francois Fillon is already under investigation for employing his family.

That probe has now been widened to include possible forgery and aggravated fraud, French media report.

Investigators are looking at whether Mr Fillon and his wife Penelope forged documents to try to justify the €700,000 ($755,000; £610,000) she was given for work as a parliamentary assistant that she is alleged not to have carried out.

Now Le Canard Enchaine newspaper - which broke the allegations about the jobs for Mr Fillon's family - has reported that a Lebanese billionaire paid a firm owned by Mr Fillon $50,000 for helping to arrange a meeting in 2015 with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne.

Mr Fillon's campaign team told the AFP news agency that "the suspicions of conflict of interest are totally unfounded".

Initially the favourite to win the presidential election in April and May, Mr Fillon is now running third in the opinion polls.

What makes a minister's resignation minor news - analysis by Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris

Image copyright EPA Image caption The investigation involving Francois Fillon makes Mr Le Roux's resignation a minor news story

In normal times this would be a monumental embarrassment for the French government. The interior minister has been found employing his two daughters as parliamentary helpers, and paying them a lot of public money.

There may not legally be anything wrong with what he did - though the prosecutor will need to check that out thoroughly - but the look of the thing is awful.

While still at school, these daughters of the French nomenklatura were able to start very substantial savings accounts.

It would be embarrassing - but in fact the Socialist government is worse than a lame duck. It is a duck with both legs snapped at the knee. In the upcoming presidential elections, it has no representative. In a few weeks it will simply disappear.

So the resignation of a minister is minor news. Except perhaps for Francois Fillon, who can hope to extract a little comfort from the discomfiture.

Mr Le Roux, 51, said he did not want the investigation into the contracts linked to his daughters to "undermine the work of the government".

"I've made it a point of honour to respect my title as a deputy, and all the responsibilities that come with it," he said, adding: "I have always been honest in my relationships with others and in all my political actions."

His daughters began working for him when they were 15 or 16, and between them amassed 24 fixed-term contracts that paid out €55,000 ($60,000; £48,000).

The allegations against Mr Le Roux surfaced in the Quotidien TV programme on Monday, when a reporter approached the minister asking about holiday jobs he had paid his daughters for between 2009 and 2016.

Employing family members is common practice in France's National Assembly and is lawful. However, the programme reported that two of the contracts coincided with an internship and a pre-study course.

One daughter held a three-month internship during the summer of 2013 at Belgian company Yves Le Rocher, Quotidien reported.

Mr Le Roux's office said all the jobs the girls were paid for were completed.

"Of course I had my daughters working with me particularly during the summers or other school holidays, but never permanently," he told Quotidien.</s>French interior minister Bruno Le Roux has resigned a few hours after prosecutors opened an investigation into a report that he hired his two daughters for a series of temporary parliamentary jobs, starting when they were 15 and 16 years old.

President Francois Hollande said he had accepted Mr Le Roux's resignation after a meeting with Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve at the Elysee Palace.

He named the country's low-profile trade and tourism minister, Matthias Fekl, as the new interior minister.

France's national financial prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation on Tuesday after TMC television reported on Monday night that Mr Le Roux employed his daughters as parliamentary assistants for a total salary amount of 55,000 euro (Â£47,600).

The office said the preliminary investigation into the allegations disclosed in the TV programme is being led by the French police agency charged with fighting corruption and financial and tax wrongdoing.

While it is legal in France for politicians to hire family members, the TMC report suggests that Mr Le Roux's daughters did not perform all of the work.

Mr Le Roux's daughters, now 23 and 20, allegedly started working as parliamentary aides for their father over short holiday contracts when they were 15 and 16 and Mr Le Roux was a politician in the French National Assembly.

"These temporary and official contracts, in accordance with the legal rules of the National Assembly, all corresponded, of course, to works actually carried out," Mr Le Roux insisted as he announced his resignation from Bobigny, a suburb outside Paris.

Mr Le Roux, a member of the Socialist Party, was quoted by TMC as saying his daughters worked for him during school holidays to gain experience.

Mr Fillon was handed preliminary charges last week for allegedly using taxpayers' money to pay family members - his British wife and two children - for jobs that may not have existed.

The TMC channel said Mr Le Roux's staff at the interior ministry confirmed the dates of the 24 holiday jobs that his daughters landed between 2009 and 2016.

Mr Le Roux himself has told the TMC programme his daughters never got permanent jobs and has suggested their jobs were not fake - in contrast to what investigators suspect in Mr Fillon's case.

"They did work," Mr Le Roux insisted in an earlier interview with the TMC journalist.

"Of course, my daughters worked with me during summer times, especially or during school holiday periods, but never permanently," he said earlier in March.

Jean-Christophe Picard, president of the anti-corruption association Anticor, said that Mr Le Roux had to resign to avoid any conflict of interest since he was the top boss of the police officers investigating his case.

The swift judicial reaction to the report on Mr Le Roux's daughters reflects a marked shift in French attitudes towards corruption in politics, notably since the new position of a national financial prosecutor was created three years ago.

Some of France's most prominent politicians - including former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac - have been embroiled in corruption scandals involving accusations from shady campaign financing to nepotism.

But the French public is growing frustrated with a political establishment it sees as enriching itself while average workers suffer, and there is growing public pressure for transparency.</s>(PARIS) — French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux resigned Tuesday a few hours after prosecutors opened an investigation into a report that he hired his two daughters for a series of temporary parliamentary jobs, starting when they were 15 and 16 years old.

President Francois Hollande said he had accepted Le Roux's resignation after a meeting with Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve at the Elysee Palace. He named the country's low-profile trade and tourism minister, Matthias Fekl, as the new interior minister.

France's national financial prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation Tuesday after TMC television reported Monday night that Le Roux employed his daughters as parliamentary assistants for a total salary amount of 55,000 euros ($59,000) over 24 short contracts.

The office said the preliminary investigation into the facts disclosed in the TV program is being led by the French police agency charged with fighting corruption and financial and tax wrongdoing.

While it is legal in France for politicians to hire family members, the TMC report suggests that Le Roux's daughters did not perform all of the work. During some of their contracts as parliamentary aides, one of the daughters was doing a full-time internship in Belgium while the other was studying in an intensive class.

Le Roux's daughters, now 23 and 20, allegedly started working as parliamentary aides for their father over short vacation contracts when they were 15 and 16 and Le Roux was a lawmaker in the French National Assembly.

"These temporary and official contracts, in accordance with the legal rules of the National Assembly, all corresponded, of course, to work actually carried out," Le Roux, a member of the Socialist Party, insisted as he announced his resignation from Bobigny, a suburb outside Paris.

A similar scandal around employing family members has deeply damaged conservative Francois Fillon's presidential bid. Fillon was handed preliminary charges last week for allegedly using taxpayers' money to pay family members — his wife and two children — for jobs that may not have existed.

Left-wing politicians pointed out that Le Roux resigned as soon as the preliminary investigation had been launched, while Fillon decided to keep campaigning although he has been handed serious charges, including misuse of public funds, receiving money from a misuse of public funds funds and company assets. Fillon initially vowed to quit as presidential candidate if he were to be charged before changing his mind. Le Roux has not been charged so far.

While insisting he is law-abiding, Le Roux said he resigned because he didn't want the latest controversy to "undermine the work of the government."

He also said that as France's interior minister he had a "particular responsibility imposed by the daily struggle against terrorism, delinquency and the control of migratory flows" and that the mission can't afford to be affected by a debate about him.

Le Roux told the TMC program his daughters never got permanent jobs and has suggested their jobs weren't fake — in contrast to what investigators suspect in Fillon's case.

"They did work," Le Roux insisted in an earlier interview with the TMC journalist.

Jean-Christophe Picard, president of the anti-corruption association Anticor, said that Le Roux had to resign to avoid any conflict of interest since he was the top boss of the police officers investigating his case.

The swift judicial reaction to the report on Le Roux's daughters reflects a marked shift in French attitudes toward corruption in politics, notably since the new position of a national financial prosecutor was created three years ago.

Some of France's most prominent politicians — including former Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac — have been embroiled in corruption scandals involving accusations from shady campaign financing to nepotism.

But the French public is growing frustrated with a political establishment it sees as enriching itself while average workers suffer, and there is growing public pressure for transparency.</s>In this Saturday March 18 2017 file photo, French Interior Minister Bruno le Roux answers reporters at Orly airport, south of Paris. France's prime minister has summoned Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux after a report that he hired his two daughters for 24 temporary parliamentary jobs.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Seattle Post-Intelligencer.</s>A French interior minister has quit after it was revealed an investigation was launched into a report that he hired his two daughters for temporary parliamentary jobs while they were still in High School.

Bruno Le Roux was summoned by Prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve after the French financial prosecutor's office opened the investigation.

According to TMC Television, Le Roux employed his daughters while they were still teenagers, as parliamentary assistants for a total salary of 55,000 Euros (£48,000).

The national financial prosecutor's office said the preliminary investigation into the claims in the TV programme will be led by the agency charged with fighting corruption and financial and tax wrongdoing.

While it is legal in France for politicians to hire family members, the TMC report suggests Le Roux's daughters did not perform all the work. They were first hired while still in high school.

Le Roux, a member of the Socialist Party, was quoted by TMC as saying his daughters worked for him during school holidays to gain experience.

Le Roux's daughters, now 23 and 20, allegedly started working as parliamentary aides for their father over short holiday contracts when they were 15 and 16 and Le Roux was a legislator in the French National Assembly.

TMC said Le Roux's cabinet staff at the interior ministry confirmed the dates of the 24 vacation jobs the daughters held between 2009 and 2016.

Le Roux told the TMC programme his daughters never had permanent jobs and has suggested their jobs were not fake, unlike what the investigators suspect in the Fillon case.

'They did work,' he insisted in an earlier interview with the channel.

'Of course, my daughters worked with me during summer times, especially or during school vacation periods, but never permanently,' he said earlier in March.

Jean-Christophe Picard, president of anti-corruption association Anticor, told BFM TV that Le Roux should resign to avoid any conflict of interest since, as interior minister, he is also the top boss of the police officers investigating his case.

Benoit Hamon, the Socialist Party's candidate for France's April-May two-round presidential election, has urged Le Rou to 'quit the government' to 'lift suspicion'.

The swift judicial reaction to the report on Le Roux's daughters reflects a marked shift in French attitudes towards corruption in politics, notably since the new position of a national financial prosecutor was created three years ago.

The quick action of the prosecutor's office, which specialises in corruption, tax fraud and other complex cases with a national jurisdiction, became well-known when the Fillon case broke in late January.

Some of France's most prominent politicians - including former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac - have been embroiled in corruption scandals involving accusations from shady campaign financing to nepotism.

But the French public are becoming frustrated with a political establishment it sees as enriching itself while average workers suffer, and there is growing public pressure for transparency.</s>French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux resigned on Tuesday over payments of public funds to his daughters, denying he had done anything wrong but saying he did not want the scandal to affect the government’s work.

The employment of family members by politicians has become a hot-button issue in France after conservative presidential election candidate Francois Fillon became embroiled in a similar scandal over the employment of his wife and two of his children as parliamentary assistants.

That scandal, known as “Penelope-gate” after the first name of his wife, has sent Fillon’s public ratings tumbling and made him an also-ran in a race in which he was once the front-runner.

Le Roux, the former head of the Socialist Party’s group in the lower house of parliament, became interior minister in early December in a government reshuffle.

He resigned after financial prosecutors opened an inquiry on Tuesday over press reports he paid his two daughters from public funds for parliamentary work when he was still a lawmaker and when they were of student-age.

“Those work contracts ... correspond to work that was effectively carried out,” said Le Roux, in a bid to distance himself from Fillon, who is accused of having paid his wife hundreds of thousands of euros for work she did not do.

The Elysee presidential office said the junior foreign trade minister, Matthias Fekl, would replace Le Roux. It did not say who would replace Fekl.

The Quotidien TV show said Le Roux had paid a combined total of 55,000 euros ($59,455.00) between 2009 and 2016 to his two daughters as parliamentary assistants during summer vacations, starting from when they were 15 and 16.

The inquiry further detracts from the image of the already deeply unpopular government of Francois Hollande near the end of its term. Le Roux alluded to that, telling reporters he had decided to resign because he did not want this issue “to harm the government’s work.”

The inquiry was launched after allies of Fillon suggested that any inaction by the judiciary in Le Roux’s case would show that Fillon, who says he did nothing illegal, was the victim of bias by the judiciary.

Members of the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, are allowed to hire family as assistants and pay them from funds put at the disposal of all lawmakers.

At issue is the extent to which work was actually done for the money, which in Fillon’s case was in the region of 800,000 euros.</s>French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux resigned over payments of public funds to his daughters. (Reuters)</s>France's prime minister has summoned Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux after a report that he hired his two daughters for 24 temporary parliamentary jobs.

Officials in Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve's office say the two are expected to meet Tuesday.

TMC television reported that Le Roux employed his daughters, who were then teenagers, as parliamentary assistants. It is legal in France for politicians to hire family members, but the report suggests the daughters did not perform all of the work.

Le Roux is quoted by TMC as saying his daughters worked for him during school vacations to gain experience. Le Roux's office did not respond to request for comment Tuesday.

In recent weeks, conservative Francois Fillon has seen his presidential chances sink because of parliamentary jobs for his wife and children.</s>French interior minister Bruno Le Roux confirms his resignation on Tuesday, hours after the financial prosecutor’s office announced they were putting him under preliminary investigation for parliamentary jobs he secured for his daughters during their school holidays. Le Roux says he is stepping down so as to not distract from the work of the government
• French interior minister quits over holiday jobs for his daughters</s>PARIS: France's financial prosecutor on Tuesday opened a preliminary inquiry over reports Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux hired his student-age daughters for summer jobs while a member of parliament.

A report by satirical TV show Quotidien said on Monday that Le Roux employed his two daughters several times as parliamentary assistants during their school breaks.
Bruno Le Roux resigns as France's Minister of the Interior amid a jobs scandal involving two of his daughters. Using public funds, Bruno had hired his 15 and 16-year-old daughters as parliamentary assistants while he was serving as a deputy in the French National Assembly.