Corruption in the European Parliament: Athens freezes all assets of imprisoned Vice-President Eva Kaili
The Greek vice-president of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, has been charged with corruption and money laundering, along with three other people, including a former Italian MEP.
Associate AFP
LThe Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority announced on Monday that it is freezing all the assets of the Vice-President of the European Parliament, the Greek Eva Kaili, imprisoned in Brussels for her alleged involvement in a resounding corruption scandal linked to Qatar .
The measure targeting the elected official, dismissed from the Greek socialist party Pasok-Kinal following this affair, concerns “bank accounts, safes, companies and any other financial asset”, according to the president of the anti- laundering, Haralambos Vourliotis, quoted by a member of the same organisation.
The Greek banking establishments and the competent State services have already been informed of this measure by the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, according to this member of this institution. The asset freeze also affects Ms. Kaili’s close family members, such as her parents, according to the same source.
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In the sights of the Authority is also a real estate company recently established in the chic Athens district of Kolonaki, which would have been created by the 44-year-old MEP and her Italian companion, also imprisoned in Belgium.
The arrest of Eva Kaili, elected European since 2014 and vice-president of the European Parliament since January, caused a great stir in Europe, in particular in her native country. This former television presenter was charged with “corruption” on Sunday in Brussels, and imprisoned, in the investigation of a Belgian judge relating to large payments that Qatar would have made to influence decisions within this great institution of the EU.
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A judicial source told AFP that Ms. Kaili and three other people had been imprisoned by a Brussels judge, two days after their arrest in an investigation targeting the actions of the host country of the 2022 World Cup.
Mrs. Kaili could not benefit from her parliamentary immunity because the offense of which she is accused was found “in flagrante delicto”, explained the same judicial source. This source confirmed press reports that “bags of tickets” were discovered in the apartment of the elected Greek socialist.
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