Greece freezes all assets of EU Parliament vice president on corruption charges

Greek authorities on Monday froze the assets of European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili, following her arrest on corruption charges allegedly linked to Qatar, local media reported.

Eva Kaili, one of 14 vice-chairs of the European legislative body from Greece's central left party PASOK-KINAL was held Friday by Belgian police after her house was searched, according to Belgian daily Le Soir.

According to Greek public broadcaster ERT, authorities also suspended “bank accounts, safes, companies and other financial assets” of its relatives.

Bank accounts of a real estate company in Colaki, which was founded by Kyle and her husband, ERT, are also being established.

Qatar has dismissed the <x0 that are baseless and severely misinterpreted” charges of improper behaviour that have shaken the European Parliament.

“Catari counters any attempt to tie him on charges of improper conduct. Any ties of Qatar's government to the reported claims are groundless and severely misinterpreted,” said the Doha mission to the EU in a statement Sunday.

He added that the Gulf state “works through institution engagement and acts fully in line with international laws and regulations”.

The statement comes amid ongoing reports on a suspected corruption case in the European Parliament involving bribery to try to influence its opinion.

On Friday, her father was also arrested after finding him in possession of a large amount of money in a suitcase, local reports showed.

Those arrested along with Kyle also included Luca Visentini, secretary-general of the International Unions Confederate, as well as Pierre Antonio Panzer, a former S&D delegation from Italy who headed the parliament's subcommittee for human rights. / AA