lalibre.be/Agencies – The former MEP told investigators that he had given more than 120,000 euros in cash to his colleague for his help in Qatar-related cases. The latter has also signed an agreement with the Belgian federal prosecutor in which he undertakes to cooperate with the courts.
Former Socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, accused of being at the center of the vast case of corruption of the European Parliament by Qatar, said he gave money to Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella (PS), according to information revealed by the Echo.
According to a document from the European Parliament from the request for the waiver of immunity to the two politicians, Mr. Panzeri told the investigators, notified on minutes, at one of his very first hearings on December 10, that he had given more than 120,000 euros in cash to Marc Tarabella, in several installments, for his help in Qatar-related cases.
The information was confirmed to our colleagues by a source close to the European Parliament.Marc Tarabella, the “old-fashioned socialist” who likes to forge ties, and whose point of view on Qatar has changed (Portrait)
Targeted in the Belgian investigation into the suspicions of corruption by Qatar of the European Parliament, Marc Tarabella has defended himself from the beginning of having received the slightest gift from the Gulf country. His lawyer, Maxime Töller, repeated it again on RTL on Sunday: “Mr. Tarabella is very clear, he has never received the slightest promise, the slightest money, the slightest gift, in any form, against supporting Qatar in any way.”
The Belgian socialist who was searched and excluded from the PS during the investigation, said he had nothing to blame and was ready to collaborate with the justice system. It was his change of position on the organization of the World Cup in Qatar that had aroused suspicion.
Cooperative with the Justice
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, which opened the investigation, announced in a statement that the protagonist Pier Antonio Panzeri signed a memorandum with the federal prosecutor on Tuesday, as part of the law on repentant – known as “pentiti” in reference to the Italian law on mafia investigations.
The former deputy therefore obtains repentant status, for the second time in history, and undertakes, via this memorandum, to inform the justice system on “the modus operandi, the financial arrangements with third states, the financial constructions put in place, the beneficiaries of the structures put in place and proposed benefits, the involvement of known or not yet known persons in the file, including the
Under this agreement, the penalty incurred by Panzeri will be limited. “It will include a prison sentence, a fine and the confiscation of all the patrimonial benefits acquired, currently estimated at one million euros,” announces the prosecutor’s office.
