Klaus-Heiner Lehne of the European Court of Auditors has defended himself and his colleagues against allegations of mismanagement revealed by a French newspaper, Euractiv.com reports.

He does not rule out taking the case to court, the report adds.

Last Friday, the French newspaper Liberation published an investigative article alleging mismanagement at the top of the European Court of Auditors, the institution responsible for controlling EU spending.

The article, entitled "Fraud at the head of the European Court of Auditors" alleged, among other things, that the President of the Court, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, had a fictitious address in Luxembourg and that there was therefore no justification for the allocation of residence up to 3,600 per month that Lehne received.

Asked by the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee, the President of the EU Court of Auditors defended himself against the accusations.

The article, Lehne said, is largely based on unproven and false claims.

He denied that the Luxembourg address was fictitious and defended his choice to share the apartment with two members of his cabinet. 

See report in full here