Qatar World Cup corruption
Vice-President of the European Parliament Eva Kaili arrested
MEP Eva Kaili from Greece has been arrested in Brussels. They are being investigated for corruption and money laundering. It should just go to bribes in connection with the World Cup.
Eva Kaili, Vice President of the European Parliament, has been arrested as part of a corruption investigation.
According to information from the AFP news agency, the Greek MP and Vice President of the EU Parliament Eva Kaili (44) was arrested in the course of investigations into suspected corruption. Kaili was arrested in Brussels on Friday evening and is now being questioned by the police, according to sources familiar with the case. Previously, there had already been four arrests in the Belgian capital in the course of the investigation.
According to media reports, Qatar is involved in the corruption scandal. Bribes were paid in connection with the football World Cup. This information is not officially confirmed by the responsible authorities.
In Athens, the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok), of which the arrested Kaili is a member, announced on Friday evening that the politician had been “excluded from the party”.
Qatar World Cup bribe
Among the four previously arrested is a parliamentary staff member of the Social Democratic Group in the European Parliament (S&D), who is also the partner of Parliament Vice Kaili. Also arrested were former Italian Socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the head of an NGO and a trade union leader, both also Italian citizens.
According to the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, a total of 16 searches took place in Brussels, one of the places where the European Parliament works. The police confiscated data carriers and mobile phones as well as cash in the amount of around 600,000 euros.
It is therefore determined because of “gang corruption and money laundering”. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office is responsible for prosecuting organized crime and terrorism in Belgium.
According to the authority, the investigations, led by an investigating magistrate in Brussels, are about alleged efforts by a Gulf state to “influence the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament by paying significant sums of money or making significant gifts”. (AFP/SDA)