Corruption case opens European Parliament and uncovers hidden money

Prosecutors say a European lawmaker's glamorous lifestyle masked a corruption scandal in Qatar. She revealed how vulnerable Brussels is to foreign influences.

Princes and presidents walked the white marble floors of the V.V.I.P. ultra-selective. box overlooking the pitch for the first match of the World Cup. But mingling with footballing legends and the Gulf royals was a figure few outside European politics would recognize: Eva Kaili.

Ms. Kaili, a Greek politician, was vice-president of the European Parliament, a sprawling body with limited powers (and 14 vice-presidents). She had no official activity in Qatar. Her trip was private, people who saw her in the V.V.I.P. box said.

And then, less than a day later, she was back in Brussels, delivering a passionate defense of Qatar against criticism of its exploitation of migrant workers who had built the stadiums for the World Cup.

"The World Cup in Qatar is proof, in fact, of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historic transformation of a country with reforms that have inspired the Arab world,” Ms. Kaili said. She chastised critics of Qatar as bullies. “They accuse anyone who talks to them or engages with corruption. "

Less than three weeks later, she was in jail, accused of exchanging political decisions for money. Belgian authorities charged her on last weekend alongside his life partner, Francesco Giorgi, and two other people in an investigation into the influence this Qatari. Police raids uncovered 1.5 million euros in cash. About half were found in a hotel room occupied by Ms Kaili's father; A further €150,000 was found in the apartment Ms Kaili shared with her partner, prosecutors said.

The case, which Belgian authorities say they built for more than a year with the help of their secret services, uncovered what prosecutors say was cash for favors in the heart of the European Union. And it exposed the vulnerabilities of an opaque and notoriously bureaucratic system that decides policies for 450 million people in the club of the world's wealthiest nations.

Ms. Kaili's lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said she was innocent. "She just had no knowledge of money," he said. "She did Qatar no favors because all of her positions were, in fact, in line with the EU policy on Qatar."

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