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PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech parliament’s lower house voted on Wednesday to allow police to bring charges against Andrej Babis, the leading candidate to become prime minister after an election next month, in a case involving suspected abuse of European Union subsidies.

Babis, a billionaire businessman and founder of the ANO movement, denies any wrongdoing. He has repeatedly called the police actions against him a political ploy meant to hurt him in the Oct. 20-21 election.