Italian police in the city of Brescia have 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, POLITICO reports .
Authorities also seized the MP’s bank accounts and luxury cars last Thursday.
The investigation concerns four assistants working in Italy for Zambelli.
“Four employees did not perform activities related to the function for which they were hired, or only partially performed them, falsely documenting their activities to the European Parliament ,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
In addition, Zambelli is reported to be “closely connected” to at least one of the four people she hired, so law enforcement assumes she directly benefited from the scam.
Stefania Zambelli first became an MEP for the far-right League party, part of the larger group Idawa is not associated with Qatargate, the corruption scandal that still rocks the European Parliament. According to Italian law, there was no need to remove Zambelli’s parliamentary immunity for confiscation. She has not yet been formally charged.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Zambelli said neither she nor her associates had done anything illegal.
“ Our work has always been characterized by maximum loyalty and transparency towards institutions and the team ,” she said.
source: zn