A former minister, who served in the government of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was charged on Tuesday for "complicity in illegal campaign financing".
Eric Woerth acted as treasurer of Sarkozy's successful 2007 run for the presidency.
The charges against him are part of an investigation into suspected illicit financing of the campaign with Libyan money, his lawyer said Tuesday.
"This indictment is based on the discovery of cash sums, very small if not outright ridiculous considering the cost of a presidential campaign," his lawyer, Jean-Yves Leborgne said.
He added that Woerth had told investigators that cash payments totaling some 30,000 euros ($35,000) had been given to campaign workers.
Woerth, a prominent right-wing MP who heads parliament's finance committee, has previously admitted the campaign received cash payments which he said were anonymous donations received by post, a claim contested by others questioned in the case.
Sarkozy has denied claims that he accepted millions of euros from the former Libyan leader Moammar al-Gaddafi, some of it delivered in cash-stuffed suitcases.
After two days of questioning in March he was charged with corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealment of Libyan public money, though he was vowed to clear his name.
The allegations that Sarkozy took money from Gaddafi -- whom he welcomed to Paris in lavish style shortly after his election -- are the most serious out of several investigations that have dogged him since he left office.
Ziad Takieddine, a Franco-Lebanese businessman also charged in the inquiry, has claimed he delivered three suitcases containing a total of five million euros to Sarkozy and Claude Gueant, his associate and later chief of staff, in 2006 and 2007.
Woerth's lawyer said investigators were implying a link between the cash payments made to campaign staffers and the suspected millions in Libyan funds.
"Eric Woerth firmly contests this reasoning and denounces the claims against him," Leborgne said.
