Corruption scandal rocks European Union

Lawmakers allegedly accepted money, gifts but Qatar denies any involvement

The European Union is at the center of a corruption scandal involving lawmakers accused of taking money and gifts from Qatar in return for favorable treatment.

Four people, who have not been officially named, have been charged after police in Belgium seized 600,000 euros ($633,000) that they suspect members of the European Parliament, or MEPs, had illegally accepted.

The four were among six people initially detained and questioned and are charged with "participation in a criminal organization, money laundering, and corruption".

The charges followed police searching 16 locations in Brussels, including the homes of two MEPs. The Financial Times newspaper said police also detained members of the family of a former MEP in Italy, who were suspected of having been offered a holiday worth 100,000 euros.

The office of Belgium's federal prosecutor said in a statement it suspects "third parties in political and/or strategic positions within the European Parliament" had been "paid large sums of money or offered substantial gifts to influence Parliament's decision".

The prosecutor's office said investigators suspect Qatar had been influencing the EU's economic and political decisions for several months.

The EU responded to the allegations by suspending a vote that had been scheduled for next week, on whether Qatari nationals should be granted visa-free travel within the bloc.

Qatar has strongly denied the allegations and a spokesman for its government told Agence France-Presse: "We are not aware of any details of an investigation. Any claims of misconduct by the State of Qatar are gravely misinformed."

The spokesman added that Qatar "operates in full compliance with international laws and regulations".

While investigators have not officially named the four people who have been charged, the BBC noted that the European Parliament's vice-president, Eva Kaili, was among those arrested. The broadcaster said she has since been suspended from her duties as one of bloc's 14 vice-presidents. And she has been ejected from the Socialists and Democrats Group within Parliament. The Greek national has also been expelled from Greece's center-left Pasok party.

The Guardian newspaper quoted Pasok's leader, Nikos Androulakis, as saying he would not accept "even a grain of suspicion in matters of transparency".

Additionally, a spokesman for Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament, said she had "decided to suspend with immediate effect all powers, duties, and tasks that were delegated to Eva Kaili".

Greek media reported on Monday Kaili's Italian partner, Francesco Giorgi, who had worked as a consultant at the European Parliament, had also been charged.

The Guardian said Daniel Freund, an MEP who co-chairs the bloc's anti-corruption group, said the allegations amount to one of the most serious corruption scandals ever seen in the European Parliament.

"The current incident shows how aggressively third countries try to exert influence in the EU," he said. "Those who do so by illegal means, or even by bribery, must be punished."