LONDON (Reuters) -The former president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, is under investigation for corruption and abuse of influence, as well as the misappropriation of EU funds, allegations the 72 year-old said were absurd.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), which polices EU funding misuse cases, announced the investigation on Monday, saying the EU's EIB lending arm had accepted its request to lift immunity on two of its former employees and to have its offices searched.
Hoyer, who led the bank between 2012 and 2023, was not named by the prosecutor's office but made a statement through his lawyers that he was one of the subjects of the inquiry.
He said it was an investigation into compensation money paid to another EIB employee that he had signed off while president following "a recommendation from the department in charge and the Secretary General of the EIB".
"The allegations against me are downright absurd and unfounded," Hoyer said, adding that he was fully co-operating with the EPPO's investigation and had asked the EIB to do the same.
A spokesperson for the EIB said: "We will cooperate fully with the European Public Prosecutor's Office on this matter as required," but that it could not comment on ongoing external investigations.
(Reporting by Marc Jones in London and Benoit Van Overstraeten in Brussels; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Barbara Lewis)
By Marc Jones
