By Liana Spyropoulou and Carl-Victor Wachs
1.5 million euros – in cash! Seized during corruption investigations in Brussels, including in the apartment of ex-EU Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili (44). The Belgian police presented the bundles of (bribe) money to the public on Tuesday.
The suspicion: The social democrat Kaili was bribed by Qatar and influenced political decisions in favor of the desert state. So far, Qatar has denied all allegations and wants nothing to do with the story.
Kaili was officially deposed on Tuesday, and her colleagues in the European Parliament almost unanimously spoke out against her. She is currently in custody and will be transferred today to the state-of-the-art Haren Prison. The investigators found 160,000 euros on her alone.
“Eve will push the apple to Adam”
Legal experts expect that Kaili will now accuse her lover and father of her child, Francesco Giorgi (33, Italian, also in custody). The Greek lawyer Ilias Sideris (38) to BILD: “Eva will push the apple to Adam. Many countries show leniency when you extradite your accomplices. Eva knows that too.”
Kaili’s three lawyers (one of whom is the most famous Greek media lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, 55) say: “She maintains her innocence” and did not accept a bribe.
Eva Kili with husband Francesco Giorgi on a shopping spree in Athens’ Kifisia district in 2020 Photo: picture alliance / ANE / Eurokinissi | Apostolis Papanikolaou / Eurokinissi
However, Dimitrakopoulos does not deny the plastic bags full of money found at Kaili: “I have no idea if and what was found there.”
The police also caught Eva Kaili’s father Alexander with 600,000 euros in cash in a suitcase. It is now also necessary to clarify where this money will come from.
Bitter: Eva Kaili’s daughter is only two years old, now both parents are in prison.