EU parliament chief takes action as lobbying scandal simmers

A vice president of the European Union’s parliament was suspended from her duties on Saturday after being caught up in an investigation into influence peddling at the EU assembly allegedly involving officials from Qatar.
Eva Kaili, a 44-year-old Greek former TV news anchor, was suspended by her party in Greece and the EU assembly’s Socialists and Democrats group Friday after Belgian police staged 16 raids across Brussels as part of a probe into corruption and money laundering at the parliament.
Four people were detained for questioning, and investigators recovered around 600,000 euros ($633,500) in cash and seized computer equipment and mobile telephones. Prosecutors did not identify the four but at least one was an EU lawmaker and one was a former member.