Former EIB president under European investigation for corruption
European Public Prosecutor investigates former EIB president for corruption and abuse of influence, waiving immunity and opening in-depth investigation
of R.Es.
3' min read
3' min read
Judicial investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office into the former president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer. The former manager, 72, is under investigation for corruption and abuse of influence and misappropriation of EU funds. He dismissed the charges as absurd and said he will cooperate with the investigating authorities.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (acronym in English: Eppo), which deals with cases of misuse of European funds, announced the investigation this morning, pointing out that the operational arm of the EIB had accepted the prosecution's request to lift the immunity of two of its former employees and to allow searches in its offices. A few hours earlier the British newspaper Financial Times had anticipated the news of the investigation from its sources.
The name of Hoyer, who led the bank between 2012 and 2023, was not revealed by the prosecutors, but shortly afterwards he himself issued a statement through his lawyers admitting that he was one of the two under investigation. The former official specified that the investigation concerns cash compensation paid to another outgoing bank employee, which he had signed as president following 'the instructions of the department dealing with the matter and the secretary general of the EIB'.
"The accusations against me," Hoyer continued, "are definitely absurd and unfounded. He added that he was cooperating fully with the authorities and asked the EIB to do the same. A Bank spokesman said: 'We will cooperate with the European Public Prosecutor's Office as requested' without adding any comment on the ongoing investigation. Hoyer's lawyer, Nikolaos Gazeas, said that his client had to sign the agreement now under investigation and that he was not involved in the negotiations, having instead acted on the basis of a memo submitted to him by other managers, who had assured him that the deal had been legally approved and subject to all controls.
Hoyer is a German economist and Free Democratic Party politician. The European Investment Bank is the division that deals with credit on behalf of the European Union and the largest multilateral credit institution in the world, with a firepower of more than EUR 500 billion. It is based in Luxembourg.
