DAccording to her lawyer, the deposed Vice President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, has nothing to do with the cash seized from her. She “didn’t know anything about the existence of this money,” her lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos told the AFP news agency on Tuesday. The 44-year-old is “innocent”. Only her partner, the Italian Francesco Giorgi, who was also arrested on charges of corruption, could give “answers about the existence of this money”.
Since the arrest of Kailis and other suspects last Friday, the European Parliament has been rocked by the massive corruption scandal. On Tuesday, the European Parliament ousted the Greek MEP as vice-president with an overwhelming majority. Kaili is suspected of having been paid by Qatar to defend his interests. According to Belgian judicial circles, 150,000 euros were found in her apartment in Brussels alone.
Trail also leads to Morocco
Kaili and three other suspects were taken into custody by Belgian authorities on Sunday. They are accused of “membership in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption”. A court hearing is scheduled to take place on Wednesday to decide whether they will remain in detention until their trial begins.
According to a report, in addition to Qatar, Morocco is apparently also involved in the corruption scandal. The arrested ex-EU MP Pier Antonio Panzeri is accused of having received money from Morocco, reported the “mirror”, citing internal documents of the Belgian investigators. According to this, two family members are said to have helped Panzeris to transport “gifts” that the Moroccan ambassador to an eastern EU state had given them. The British “Telegraph” had previously reported on the allegations with regard to Morocco.
Panzeri reportedly had official ties to Morocco during his time as an MEP, when he was chairman of the delegation for relations with the North African Maghreb countries.
