Belgian investigators have called two Ryanair executives for questioning in a fraud probe at a local promotional company partly owned by the airline, a prosecutor said today.
Charleroi public prosecutor Nabil Sanaji said the examining magistrate leading the investigation had called on Chief Operating Officer Michael Cawley and Bernard Berger, head of flights development, to answer questions.
Sanaji said the examining magistrate was looking into suspected fraud and misuse of funds at to the promotional company, known as Promocy.
"We want to know if the money was diverted into some other pocket than airport services," he said, confirming reports published earlier in the day in two regional newspapers.
The investigation did not imply any wrongdoing on the part of the executives or the airline, he added.
Promocy Chairman Laurent Jossart said he knew of the investigation but did not know what it was about.
"We do not understand what they are looking for," he said.
Promocy is jointly owned by Ryanair and Brussels South Charleroi Airport, the airport operator in the southern city where the airline has one of its European hubs.
Promocy is in charge of publicising flights and fares in Belgium.
Cawley is its managing director. Pierre Fernement, a spokesman for the airport operator, said it was collaborating with the investigation and some of its executives had already been questioned.
The operator denied any wrongdoing, he said.
Ryanair could not immediately comment.