PARIS (REUTERS) - French magistrates placed the wife of conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon under formal investigation on Tuesday (March 28) over allegations she was paid hundreds of thousands of euros of public funds for work she did not do, a judicial source said.

British-born Penelope Fillon will be investigated on suspicion of complicity in misappropriating public funds, the source said.

The decision, which comes two weeks after Fillon himself was placed under formal investigation in the same case, is another blow to his faltering presidential campaign.