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Politico (23 January 2023)

BY GIAN VOLPICELLI

When it comes to online records of past lobbying work, Eva Kaili’s sister Mantalena wants a clean slate.

Eva, the now-former European Parliament vice president arrested in December on corruption allegations, had been a regular presence at events organized by her younger sister. Mantalena’s Greek nonprofit MADE Group had developed a network of outfits and projects closely aligned with tech-savvy Eva’s work in Parliament. MADE Group competed for and won EU tenders, once receiving €105,172 out of a pilot project Eva Kaili had pushed in Parliament. 

In Brussels, Mantalena was known as the executive director of ELONtech, an “observatory” on technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain, whose events were sometimes held in the European Parliament and featured Eva as a speaker. Following the eruption of the Qatargate scandal late last year, ELONtech scrambled to make itself inconspicuous, removing all references to both Kailis from its website and telling its unpaid advisers it was “obliged to restrain its operation” due to "unforseen [sic] and turbulent conditions,” according to a December 14, 2022 email seen by POLITICO.

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