“Qatargate”: a repentant confesses the details of the corruption plot that is shaking the European Parliament

The prisoners begin to speak for the “Qatargate” which is shaking the European Parliament. Francesco Giorgi, sentimental companion of the former vice president of the European Parliament Eva Kailí, confessed to the investigating magistrate and the carabinieri. He acknowledged being part of a criminal conspiracy who has accepted bribes from Qatar and Morocco to influence European policies but has tried to decline responsibility.

Giorgi told investigating judge Michel Claise that his role was simply to keep the money and that he is the ringleader of the corruption plot that is getting on MEPs’ nerves it was former Italian Social Democrat MEP Pier Antonio Panzeriwho the researchers also point to as the head of the group for now.

The information taken from Giorgi’s cell phone and the hundreds of thousands of euros in cash he kept at home make a prison sentence very likely, for which the Italian may already cooperate to reduce it as much as possible. Giorgi, like Panzeri and Kailí, is officially accused of corruption, belonging to a criminal gang and money laundering.

The sums that are moved turn the charges into criminal offenses with long prison sentences. Giorgi, 35, has a two-year-old daughter with Kailí, eight years his senior. Giorgi asked the judge in exchange for his confession Kailí was released so she could go back to her daughter.

intuition

Kailí’s lawyer on Wednesday requested a postponement of her court appearance, which is now set for next Thursday. Meanwhile, Kailí will remain in prison.

Giorgi also pointed to other people, such as the Belgian MEP of Italian origin Marc Tarabella. The police have already gone to his home, where he has seized computer equipment and a mobile phone, but he has not been arrested and has not been officially tried.. Tarabella denies being part of the conspiracy. The Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino is also striking.

Who seems to be saved from Giorgi’s confession is the Belgian MEP Marie Arena, who up to now appears in all the information on the subject but from whom no money from which she could not justify its origin has allegedly been seized. His participation in the plot is doubtful and their relationship may just be because of their friendship with Panzeri.

The investigation continues to expand. Already on Wednesday it seemed clear that calling him ‘Qatargate’ was an incomplete reduction because Morocco already appears on the viewer. Even its secret services would have tried and would have succeeded in bribing the European legislators.

the Belgian newspaper in the evening said this Thursday that Panzeri, Cozzolino and Giorgi would be in contact with Moroccan intelligence and with a man who may play a key role in the plot, the Moroccan ambassador to Poland, Abderramin Atmoun. That man could be a key piece of the story as a contact person and broker of gifts to political office.

Moroccans

in the evening confirms that the investigation documents also name two other high-ranking Moroccan intelligence officers, who for years have maintained relations with the defendants in exchange for large sums of money and gifts of luxury products.

The official European narrative is already starting to change. The main heads of the European institutions They’re talking more than a foreign interference issue, in the plural, that of a problem of widespread political corruption in the European institutions. They want to be able to say that the problem is some MEPs who let themselves be bought, not the institution in general.

The European summit held this Thursday in Brussels, which addressed issues such as the protectionist policies of the United States or financial aid to Ukraine in 2023, tried to ignore the issue. Nobody wants to bet too much on Qatar, a country that buys European weapons, sells gas to replace Russian and maintains significant investments in several European countries.

pp