Newspaper, Deputy European Parliament accepts corruption plan

Eva Kaili, former vice-president of the European Parliament, told the newspaper “Le Soir” this Tuesday (20), in one of her statements at the Belgian Prosecutor’s Office, she was going to admit that she was aware of the corruption and bribery plot from Qatar.

According to the publication, the Greek parliamentarian admitted that he had asked his father to hide the money in cash and to let his partner, Francesco Giorgi, the parliamentary adviser of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, know that he had “partnership” with the party. also Italian, former MP Antonio Panzeri.

All three have been in prison since 9 December, when Belgian police launched an operation to dismantle a plan that paid European Parliament politicians to vote in favor of measures that would benefit “a country in the Gulf”. media would be Qatar.

According to “Le Soir”, Panzeri would also admit to joining the plan, blaming current Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella as one of the recipients of the “gifts.” The politician publicly denied knowing of the plan, but his house was the target of an operation the same day.

About 1.5m euros were found in 20 and 50 euro banknotes, with Panzeri and Kaili in a suitcase with Kaili’s father at a hotel in Brussels. The man was not charged in this process.

The Belgian newspaper also draws attention to the fact that on the day of the operation and after Giorgi’s arrest, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament tried to contact two other deputies whose names were not disclosed. Although Kaili had parliamentary immunity, she was arrested for having purses containing cash – unlike in Tarabella’s case – a crime in the act.

Panzeri’s wife was also detained as part of the operation, but in Italy, Panzeri’s wife, 67, Maria Dolores Colleoni, could be extradited to Belgium to respond to the process, the Brescia Court of Appeals said Monday night. ).

Colleoni was arrested along with her daughter Silva Panzeri on December 9, but was placed under house arrest the next day. The woman responds to crimes of complicity, corruption and money laundering.

However, the court ruled that “in case of final conviction” the sentence should be served in Italy.

Panzeri’s wife denies all allegations and says she does not know the source of the alleged money. He also denied that the family had spent 100,000 euros worth of vacations, which would be financed by Qatar.