A French judge has ordered ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy to stand trial in an illegal campaign finance case, BBC reports. 

Mr Sarkozy faces accusations that his party falsified accounts in order to hide 18m euros (£15m; $20m) of campaign spending in 2012.

Mr Sarkozy has repeatedly denied that he was aware of the overspending.

He lost the 2012 race to Francois Hollande, and failed in his bid to run again in this year's upcoming presidential election.