François Fillon and his wife Penelope are embroiled in scandal | Etienne Laurent/EPA François Fillon’s wife, children paid almost €1 million: report New allegations double the amount of €500,000 as earlier reported.

Penelope Fillon, the wife of French conservative presidential candidate François Fillon, was paid more than €900,000 for work she allegedly did not carry out, investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaîné said Tuesday.

The figure is considerably higher than the €500,000 the weekly reported last week. In addition, it said, two of Fillon’s five children were employed as parliamentary assistants while he was a senator and earned a total of €84,000.

Fillon on Tuesday said he was victim of a "professional plot."

“Never, with less than three months to go before a presidential election, has an operation of such magnitude and this professional been staged with the aim of getting rid of a candidate," he said at a conference in Paris, according to the Financial Times.

Investigators on Tuesday searched the lower house of the French parliament as part of the investigation into alleged misuse of public funds. Fillon and his wife were interrogated Monday by police.

The French financial public prosecutor has launched a preliminary inquiry which could result in a formal investigation.

According to France 24, opinion polls suggest that Fillon is losing ground to far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and independent centrist Emmanuel Macron in the presidential race, of which the first round takes place on April 23.