Panzeri signs an agreement with the Belgian public prosecutor’s office to participate in the investigation into the bribery scheme and reminds all involved
The ‘Qatargate’ promises to provide new headlines. The alleged mastermind of the plot, Pier Antonio Panzeri, signed an agreement on Tuesday with the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office promising to cooperate with the investigation of the Qatar and Morocco bribery plot to try to influence the decisions of the European Parliament. More specifically, Panzeri gave his word that he will make “full, honest and truthful statements” about the participation in crimes “by third parties” and also about his own role in the case. The former Italian MEP will not be released from prison, but in return will be able to “limit” the sentence imposed by the Belgian judiciary.
In the text agreed upon by the two sides, Panzeri assures that it will reveal the criminal organization’s modus operandi, as well as the financial structures used by the criminal organization. Panzeri also confirms that it will reveal the whole framework of the case, the “interested parties” in ‘Qatargate’ and the benefits offered, in addition to revealing the identities of “known and unknown” people who took part in the plot or who received bribes . .
The Belgian judiciary is particularly interested in this last point, which could give an idea of the scope of this conspiracy within the European Parliament. Four people have been charged so far, including one of the vice presidents of the community institution, Greek socialist Eva Kaili. The case also affects her husband, the MEP adviser Francesco Giorgi, and the director of the NGO ‘No Peace Without Justice’, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca.
Since the start of the investigation, the Belgian judiciary has appointed the Italian Pier-Antonio Panzeri as the leader of the organization. The politician was arrested on December 10 and remains in prison, charged with leading a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption. At his home in Brussels, the police seized around 600,000 euros in cash. In a statement, the Public Prosecution Service announced on Tuesday that it will seize all assets that the politician has illegally acquired, which have a value of more than one million euros.
This is the second time that the Belgian prosecutor’s office has reached a “repentance” agreement, which takes its name from the Italian law created to fight the mafia.
Meanwhile, and in the absence of knowledge of the revelations of the leader of ‘Qatargate’, the case is already affecting two other MEPs: the Belgian Marc Tarabella and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino. The Eurocámara started this week with the formal procedure to lift their immunity, at the request of the Belgian judiciary.
Investigations directly link Tarabella to Panzeri. According to information from the Belgian newspaper ‘L’Echo’, the MEP, who was vice-chairman of the delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula, received up to 120,000 euros from the former Italian MEP. So far Tarabella has denied her involvement in ‘Qatargate’ and this Tuesday she refused to leave the group of European socialists, contrary to what her leader Iratxe García demanded of her.
Suspicions have been hanging over Tarabella for weeks, after she admitted not announcing a paid trip to Qatar in 2021. She is not alone: France’s Marie Arena, chair of a subcommittee of the European Parliament, was also accused of a trip paid for by this Gulf country.
In the case of Andrea Cozzolino, the Public Prosecution Service links him to the plot through his European Parliament assistant, Francesco Giorgi, who has already confessed to his involvement and who worked as a Panzeri adviser a few years ago.
Source: La Verdad
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