The Belgian judge tasked with investigating the European Parliament’s ‘Qatargate’ corruption scandal brought charges against three new suspects on Wednesday, January 8th.
The identities of the three parliamentary workers remain undisclosed, but it was revealed that they are all connected to the social democrat S&D group, the second-largest group in the EU Parliament.
‘Qatargate’ refers to the largest corruption scandal in recent EU memory—except for, perhaps, von der Leyen’s ‘Pfizergate,’ but information on that remains scarce due to the Commission chief’s refusal to abide by EU transparency rules.
Qatagate broke in late 2022 when Belgian police conducted 20 raids across Brussels as part of a criminal investigation they covertly opened months before. They seized €1.5 million in cash and arrested half a dozen politicians—including prime suspects MEP Eva Kaili and former MEP Antonio Panzeri, S&D members from Greece and Italy—for accepting Qatari bribes in exchange for influencing voting in the EU Parliament in favor of the oil-rich Gulf country.
The case is still ongoing after two years of investigation carried out in three countries, Belgium, Greece, and Italy. Despite the establishment hindering the Parliament’s internal probe, investigators being spied on, threatened, and one nearly assassinated, the number of people charged for their role in Qatargate climbed to around fifteen, including the latest batch of minor suspects.
According to the initial report by the French-language Le Soir on Wednesday, judge Aurélie Dejaife brought additional charges against two former advisors and a former parliamentary assistant who are suspected of using their real or alleged influence in the Parliament to aid the Panzeri-led “criminal organization” in exchange for gifts and advantages.
One suspect, “C.,” a political advisor close to Francesco Giorgi—a former assistant to Panzeri—allegedly received between €10,000 and €20,000 in late 2019 from the network, with the money reportedly coming from Qatar.
The other advisor, known only as “E.,” was ‘gifted’ a fully funded trip to Qatar with his partner in December 2022 to see the Netherlands-Argentina match in the World Cup.
Lastly, “G.” was an assistant to Panzeri and Marc Tarabella, a former Belgian MEP who was subsequently charged as well. “G” also worked briefly for Italian MEP Lara Comi, another person of interest who had not been formally investigated yet.
