Italian police in the city of Brescia seized more than 170,000 euros from far-right MEP Stefania Zambelli as part of an investigation into the misuse of European Union funds earmarked for her parliamentary aides.
About this, as writes “European truth”, reports Politico.
Authorities seized bank accounts and luxury cars last Thursday as part of an investigation by the Milan-based European Prosecution Office (EPPO).
The investigation concerns four aides who worked in Italy for Zambelli, who first became an MEP for the far-right League party, part of the broader Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament, and is a member of the employment committee. She has spent most of her career in local politics in the Lombard city of Salò, where she was deputy mayor, and recently made an unsuccessful attempt to become a member of the Lombard regional council.
An EPPO spokesman said the case had nothing to do with Cathargate, a separate corruption scandal that has roiled the European Parliament. According to Italian law, it was not necessary to remove her parliamentary immunity in order to seize Zambelli’s assets.
“Four employees did not carry out activities related to the function for which they were hired, or only partially carried out them, falsely documenting their activities for the European Parliament,” EPPO said in a statement.
The statement also notes that Zambelli is “closely linked” to at least one of the four people she hired, and claims that she directly benefited from the scam.
Recall that Eva Kylie, a former Vice President of the European Parliament, who faces preliminary charges of receiving cash from Qatar in exchange for influence, recently filed an appeal against an EPPO request to remove her immunity due to possible violations in the pay of her assistants.
Source: Euro Integration
