A preliminary investigation has been opened by the Athens financial prosecutor’s office concerning Greek MEP Eva Kaili, imprisoned in Belgium for “corruption” and “money laundering”. Greek Justice Minister Kostas Tsiaras said on Monday that it was obvious that “Greece would help the Belgian authorities” if necessary.
The financial prosecutor’s office in Athens has opened a preliminary investigation into the Greek MEP imprisoned in Belgium Eva Kaili for “corruption” and “money laundering”, we learned Thursday from a judicial source. “The financial prosecutor Nikos Bardakis ordered the opening of an investigation (on Eva Kaili) for having received bribes and for money laundering”, in cooperation with the Belgian justice which is investigating the ex- Vice-President of the European Parliament at the heart of a resounding corruption scandal allegedly linked to Qatar, this judicial source told AFP.
All the assets of the Greek elected frozen
Greek Justice Minister Kostas Tsiaras said on Monday that it was obvious that “Greece would help the Belgian authorities” if necessary. No further details regarding this preliminary investigation were provided by this judicial source. As of Monday, the Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority announced that it would freeze all the assets of the 44-year-old elected socialist whose appearance before Belgian justice was postponed to Wednesday December 22.
Eva Kaili, suspected of having been paid by Doha to defend the interests of the emirate which hosts the Football World Cup, claims her innocence and her lawyer in Athens, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, affirmed that “she did not know of the existence “large sums of money found at his Brussels home by Belgian investigators. Francesco Giorgi, his Italian companion, was kept in preventive detention, according to the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office on Wednesday.