Belgian authorities have charged four people linked to the European Parliament over allegations World Cup host Qatar lavished them with cash and gifts to influence decision-making.
Investigators searched 19 homes and the offices of the European Parliament in raids from Friday to Monday. A source close to the investigation said EUR 1.5 million was seized in the raids. This included EUR 600,000 in cash at the home of a suspect, several hundred thousand euros in a suitcase in a Brussels hotel room and EUR 150,000 in an apartment belonging to a European Parliament member.
Belgium’s federal prosecutor released a still photograph of cash found during a series of police raids. Greek MEP Eva Kaili and three Italians have been charged with taking part in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption.
Investigators also seized laptops and mobile phones and ordered the IT resources of 10 parliamentary staff were frozen to prevent data from disappearing.
Searches have also been carried out in Italy.
The Belgian prosecutors say they have been investigating for more than four months alleged payments made by a Gulf state. Sources close to the case say the state is Qatar, which denies any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors have not officially named any charged individuals, but a source with knowledge of the case says they are:
Eva Kaili – a Greek socialist politician who was one of the European Parliament’s 14 vice presidents until Tuesday when lawmakers voted to remove her from that post. The former television presenter defended Qatar in the assembly last month against those trying to “bully” Doha over its treatment of migrant workers.
Her Greek socialist PASOK party is expelling her from its ranks and Greece has frozen her Greek property.
Her lawyer in Greece said she denied any wrongdoing. “Her position is that she is innocent,” Michalis Dimitrakopoulos told Open TV.
Pier Antonio Panzeri – a former European Parliament member from Italy’s centre-left and founder of the non-profit pro-justice campaign group Fight Impunity. Belgium also submitted European arrest warrants for his wife and daughter in Italy. Extracts of the warrants say they took part in Panzeri’s activities and the transport of gifts, and that Panzeri and his wife had the use of a credit card of an unidentified person they called the “geant”, or giant.
A lawyer acting for the family in Italy said Panzeri’s wife and daughter denied any involvement at a hearing in Italy on Saturday but he declined to comment on the merits of the case because he had not received the full European arrest warrant. An Italian court is expected to decide next week whether his wife and daughter will be handed over to Belgium.
Francesco Giorgi – Kaili’s partner who is parliamentary assistant. His LinkedIn account says Giorgi is a sailing instructor and a founder of Fight Impunity. His account says his specialist areas as a policy adviser are foreign affairs, human rights and the Middle East.
Niccolo Figa-Talamanca – the secretary-general of human rights and rule of law campaign group No Peace Without Justice.