Three years after shocking arrests in Brussels, the detention of former EU foreign policy director Federica Mogherini earlier this month in a fraud probe in Belgium has raised new concerns about why suspects in the European Parliament corruption crisis have yet to stand trial.
Mogherini, who oversaw the EU’s diplomatic service from 2014 to 2019 and thereafter served as rector of the esteemed College of Europe, was questioned alongside two other individuals on suspicion of procurement fraud, corruption, and conflicts of interest related to a diplomatic training program funded by the EU. The top Italian ambassador resigned from her position at the College of Europe after being eventually freed pending charges.
When Belgian police disclosed that they had found €150,000 in cash, allegedly in big bags, at Greek MEP Eva Kaili’s Brussels home during the raids, she became the center of attention.
During the 2022 sting, authorities said they found €1.5 million in cash, including €600,000 at the residence of former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri and the money at Kaili’s Brussels home. At the time, Kaili was one of 14 vice presidents of the European Parliament. Alexandros, Kaili’s father, was arrested at the Sofitel hotel in Place Jourdan carrying a bag that contained “several hundred thousand euros,” according to the authorities.
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