Presented by Belgian investigators as the main cog in the alleged criminal organization financed by Qatar, the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri signed an agreement on Tuesday 17 January with the federal prosecutor’s office providing that he will henceforth collaborate with the authorities in exchange of a prison sentence “limited”.
“Through this memorandum”specifies the Belgian public prosecutor’s office in a press release, “he undertakes to inform the investigators and the justice system, in particular on the modus operandi [de la fraude présumée]the financial arrangements with third countries, the financial structures put in place, and the beneficiaries of the structures put in place and the advantages offered”. His statements should be “substantial, revealing, sincere and comprehensive” on his participation in the alleged facts and that of third parties, adds the text. In addition, Mr. Panzeri, who is currently imprisoned, will also have to inform the investigators about “the involvement of people known or not yet known in the case, including the identity of the people he admits to having corrupted”.
In exchange for this collaboration, provided for in Belgium by a 2018 law on the status of “repentant”, “The penalty incurred by Mr. Panzeri will be effective, but limited. It will include imprisonment, a fine and the confiscation of all the acquired property benefits, currently valued at one million euros.continues the press release.
Among the four people charged
Pier Antonio Panzeri, 67, was arrested in Brussels on December 9, the same day as a vice-president of the European Parliament, the elected Greek socialist Eva Kaili, and an Italian parliamentary assistant, Francesco Giorgi, companion of Mme Kaili.
Along with Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, an Italian NGO official who is also behind bars, all have been charged with “belonging to a criminal organization”, “money laundering” and “corruption”. in the so-called Qatargate affair. They are suspected of having received large sums of cash from Qatar to influence, in favor of the emirate, political declarations and decision-making within the only elected institution of the European Union, in particular concerning workers’ rights.
In this investigation entrusted from the summer of 2022 to the Brussels investigating judge Michel Claise, a search of the Brussels home of Mr. Panzeri made it possible to discover the sum of 600,000 euros in cash, according to a judicial source. According to the press, he also received funds from Morocco to support the kingdom’s interests in the European Parliament. Both Qatar and Morocco have strongly contested these allegations.