Greece freezes assets of family of EU Parliament VP Eva Kaili
All property and financial assets of the Greek MEP, her partner and her family have been frozen.
Greek authorities have frozen the assets of the family of European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili, who was charged on Sunday with corruption in a scandal related to influence peddling by World Cup host Qatar.
Greek officials said Kaili, her husband, her parents and immediate family members are all covered by the freeze, which relates to real estate, accounts, all kinds of financial products and corporate holdings. The aim is to block cash and other gifts that could be linked to money laundering.
The freeze also covers Kaili's sister Mantalena Kaili, who is executive director of ELONtech, a nongovernmental organization focusing on the impact of laws on new technologies.
Greece’s anti-money laundering authority is also investigating a recently established real estate company based in the upscale neighborhood of Kolonaki in central Athens, which the MEP and her partner Francesco Giorgi set up around a month ago, according to the same officials.
According to Greek newspaper “Efimerida ton syntakton,” Kaili visited the Gulf country on November 20 for the tournament's opening match between Qatar and Ecuador.
She remained very discreet about this trip, without posting any photos, the paper says. Qatar denies any involvement and POLITICO has been unable to contact Eva Kaili.
In the meantime, Cypriot MEP Loucas Fourlas said he had been approached by Kaili to make amendments to a European Parliament report on human rights in Qatar, which was damning.
"When I saw that the amendments were about Qatar, I got a flea in my ear and I called the director general of the Cypriot foreign ministry, who said that Cyprus will not be involved,” Fourlas told Cypriot TV SigmaLive.
“The amendment would say that Qatar was not so strict on human rights and cracking down on homosexuality. It was about issues that would have watered down the strict tone of the report.”
Greek officials said Kaili, her husband, her parents and immediate family members are all covered by the freeze, which relates to real estate, accounts, all kinds of financial products and corporate holdings. The aim is to block cash and other gifts that could be linked to money laundering.
The freeze also covers Kaili's sister Mantalena Kaili, who is executive director of ELONtech, a nongovernmental organization focusing on the impact of laws on new technologies.
Greece’s anti-money laundering authority is also investigating a recently established real estate company based in the upscale neighborhood of Kolonaki in central Athens, which the MEP and her partner Francesco Giorgi set up around a month ago, according to the same officials.
According to Greek newspaper “Efimerida ton syntakton,” Kaili visited the Gulf country on November 20 for the tournament's opening match between Qatar and Ecuador.
She remained very discreet about this trip, without posting any photos, the paper says. Qatar denies any involvement and POLITICO has been unable to contact Eva Kaili.
In the meantime, Cypriot MEP Loucas Fourlas said he had been approached by Kaili to make amendments to a European Parliament report on human rights in Qatar, which was damning.
"When I saw that the amendments were about Qatar, I got a flea in my ear and I called the director general of the Cypriot foreign ministry, who said that Cyprus will not be involved,” Fourlas told Cypriot TV SigmaLive.
“The amendment would say that Qatar was not so strict on human rights and cracking down on homosexuality. It was about issues that would have watered down the strict tone of the report.”