Europarlement onderzoekt 'grap' over grootschalige fraude (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Parliament president Josep Borrell has called for an investigation into an email sent to the assembly's 732 MEPs indicating a potential misuse of public funds.

In a series of electronic messages, a person from within the parliament instructs a third person on how to get paintings he purchased at an exhibition at the seat of the European People's Party next to the parliament, paid for by the party.

In the emails, an MEP's assistant from the centre-right EPP/ED group tells the private person to look for "a friend or middleman to send the invoices in his or her name and then give you the money. To have something paid by the EPP it is necessary to send the invoice to the EPP, Rue de Commerce 10/1000 Brussels."

The last installment of the email exchange was sent on Tuesday (14 November) supposedly by one of the assistants of Spanish MEP and secretary general of the EPP/ED, Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, using the deputy's email account.

The message, however, was sent to MEPs, their assistants and the seven parliament party groups, instead of to the intended private recipient.

"Someone entered Mr Lopez-Isturiz's email account and sent these emails," an EPP official told EUobserver, adding that the parliament's technical services had confirmed that the email had not been sent from Mr Lopez-Isturiz's office.

The official did confirm however that it had been sent from inside the parliament and that the EPP has not bought any painting. He declined to comment further while the investigation is ongoing.

Mr Borrell believes it is "either a joke or a very serious matter" according to his office. The parliament will send the case to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).