News about Eva Kaili

Eva Kaili, the 44-year-old former European Parliament vice president and MEP, was fitted with an electronic tracker as she awaits prosecution for one of the biggest scandals to have rocked European Union institutions. As they drove out of Haren prison in northern Brussels in a blackout Mercedes, the former TV presenter turned Socialist politician was joined by her counsel. They then escorted to her apartment near the European Parliament, where she coiled the window to briefly speak with reporters.

Eva Kaili, a 44-year-old former TV presenter, has been accused of stealing bribes from Qatar. She confessed to her father that she begged him to delete a suitcase with 750,000 euros of 'dirty money.' Francesco Giorgi, 35, is to blame for the money. However, she says she begged her father Alexandros Kailis to take the money from her house. She had two choices: One was to turn her husband into the police; the second was to hand over the money to the child's owner,' said her advocate, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos. The Left-wing MEP had referred to the collection as "dirty money," he said. When Belgian police arrested Mr Kailis at a five-star hotel in Brussels on December 9 in an alleged attempt to return it, they confiscated the 750,000 euros.

DOTMINIC LAWSON: The opening of a cash-for-votes scam at the European Parliament's highest levels is a triumph for Belgian intelligence services, especially in the detention of Eva Kaili, who has since been suspended as Vice President of the EU parliament. According to investigators, the kingpin is an Italian trade union leader and former Socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri.

ROBERT HARDMAN: During the week, steady streams of police convoys have been escorting prime ministers and presidents in and out of the European Council's unlovely headquarters for the upcoming European Union summit (remember those?). Normally, this quarterly gathering is Brussels' biggest draw. Well, not this week. Rather, all attention has been on the police cars, which is headed for another institution, the European Parliament. There is no red carpet treatment for those who participate in one of those cavalcades. Rather, they tend to be in handcuffs. The largest corruption case in the history of the European Parliament is now centred on a group of socialist MEPs and their officials.

According to court records, Eva Kaili's Italian boyfriend admitted to her involvement in the Qatar bribery and begged for her freedom so she can care for their baby. Francesco Giorgi, 35, the boyfriend of Greek MEP Eva Kaili (pictured left), admitted to and apologised for the uprising in front of Brussels magistrates, saying that Ms Kaili (right) was not involved. Kaili, the former EU parliament vice president, 44, as well as her partners Giorgi, former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, and lobbyist Niccol Figa-Talamanca are among those charged with misconduct, money laundering, and organised crime. According to Belgian cops, the organization was given the money by 'Gulf State' officials, who are widely believed to be Qataris, as part of a plot to buy influence in the EU parliament. Investigators report investigators confiscated a total of £1.3 million (cash figure inset) after they raided inside her apartment and Panzeri's house.

Eva Kaili, the EU vice president, inset, Jeansco Giorgi, ex-MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, and lobbyist Niccol Figa-Talamanca are set to appear in Brussels today after being arrested last week on corruption charges. More photos of £1.3 million in cash were posted ahead of the hearing, which will determine whether the foursome will be released, according to police. Three photos showed an estimated £500,000 packed inside a suitcase (left). Kaili's father is believed to have been arrested outside a hotel in Brussels, along with more notes packed inside lock boxes and paper bags (right). According to investigators, the four were paid by 'Gulf State' officials, who are largely believed to be from Qatar, in exchange for pushing their agenda in the EU parliament.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: There were few more striking advertisements for European democracy than Eva Kaili, the Greek MEP, until a few days ago. The statuesque 44-year-old had known nothing but failure throughout her life. The youngest member of the city council of Thessaloniki, the youngest candidate for the Greek Parliament, a news presenter on Greece's oldest private TV channel, and a politician of Greece's center-left Pasok party. . .. Nothing seemed to be beyond her. Since investigators confiscated €150,000 in her flat, she has been embroiled in a corruption controversy. Franscesco Giorgi, the actress's partner, has also been linked to the scandal.

A photograph of £1.3 million (left) has been published by police in Brussels, Belgium, who claim they were seized from two houses and a suitcase in anti-corruption raids over the weekend. Six people were arrested in those raids, and four others have been charged, including EU vice president Eva Kaili, 44 (right), Pier Antonio Panzeri, 35, and lobbyist Niccol Figa-Talamanca. According to police, the company obtained the funds from 'Gulf State' officials, who are widely believed to be Qataris, in exchange for seeking to influence debates in the EU parliament. Ms Kaili denies being complicit in the bribery, though Qatari diplomats have denied that they are the 'Gulf State' concerned.

Eva Kaili (left, top, bottom) is a Greek political wonderkid who spent time as a television presenter before crashing into Brussels, where she is now embroiled in a big corruption scandal. Ms Kaili, who was born in Thessaloniki overlooking the Aegean Sea, has been active in politics since age 14 and became the youngest member of the city council aged 23 in 2002. She worked as a TV news presenter for three years after a failed attempt to become a lawmaker but then won the election in 2007. She served in the Greek parliament until 2012, after which she migrated to Brussels and became the youngest candidate ever from her socialist party to be elected to the EU parliament. She rubbed shoulders with billionaires such as Richard Branson (right) before becoming a vice president of parliament in January this year. However, she is now in a jail cell, suspected by police of taking bribes from Qatar in exchange for influencing parliamentary debates in their favour. Brussels has voted to dismiss her as vice president, she has been booted out of her political party, and she is now facing felony charges after forensic evidence of'sacks of cash' were discovered in her apartment.

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: It's difficult to imagine anything more offensive than treating sick patients' lives as a bargaining chip in wage negotiations. And yet, that is exactly what the ambulance drivers' union is doing. Yesterday, a Unison spokesman said that his attacking members might'choose' not to have even more life-saving insurance for those with critical needs, such as heart attack, stroke, and sepsis victims. What a shameful hazard. Ambulance crews may not be bound by the Hippocratic Oath but are they really prepared to see people die because of their actions? They must surely be more efficient than that.

Among the four people charged with the discovery of bags of cash in her house are four others - one of the biggest scandals to ever strike the EU, according to watchdogs. Eva Kaili, 44, has been charged with dishonesty by Belgian investigators, and her assets have been frozen by her homeland. On Friday, she was arrested. Since bags of cash were discovered in her house immediately after she returned from a first visit to Qatar, three of Kaili's associates were arrested, and a second MEP's house was searched. Four criminal suspects had been charged with "participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering, and corruption," according to Belgian prosecutors. The Qatar bribes have shaken the EU Parliament's trust, according to watchdogs, this probe might have been one of the biggest scandals in the country's history.