Eva Kaili’s partner confesses role in Qatargate, Morocco comes under the spotlight

Francesco Giorgi, the partner of ousted European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili, has confessed his role in a Qatar graft scandal, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The confession to Belgian investigators was first reported on Thursday (15 December) by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir and the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Belgian police are continuing to investigate allegations that figures working on behalf of Qatar, the Emirati state and World Cup host, and also Morocco, have paid European politicians huge bribes to influence the Brussels policy debate.

On Friday, Greek MEP Eva Kaili, her partner Francesco Giorgi, and ex-MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, president of the NGO Fight Against Impunity, were arrested by the Belgian police on suspicion of corruption.

Giorgi’s confession to taking bribes from Qatar to influence European Parliament decisions on Qatar had made “a significant contribution” to the probe underway by Belgian investigating magistrates, one of the sources said.

According to the same source, Giorgi, an EU parliamentary assistant, sought to exonerate his partner Kaili from any wrongdoing. Greek MEP Kaili, who was ousted from her role as vice president of the European Parliament on Monday, has denied any wrongdoing through her lawyer.

The lawyer for Giorgi, who is currently in detention pending further investigation of the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Qatar has also denied it had sought to bribe MEPs.

“The State of Qatar categorically rejects any attempts to associate it with accusations of misconduct. Any association of the Qatari government with the reported claims is baseless and gravely misinformed,” a Qatari official told Reuters on Thursday in response to questions about alleged Qatari attempts to influence the European Parliament.

In his confession, Giorgi acknowledges that his role in “the organisation” was to manage cash. Giorgi reportedly named two MEPs suspected of having received money via Antonio Panzeri: Italy’s Andrea Cozzolino and Belgium’s Marc Tarabella, both from the S&D group. The latter’s house was searched on Saturday evening in the presence of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

Morocco intelligence services

Morocco is reportedly involved in this case of potential corruption with its external intelligence service, the DGED – Directorate General for Studies and Documentation.

According to the documents that Le Soir and La Repubblica were able to consult, Panzeri, Cozzolino and Giorgi were in contact with the DGED and with Abderrahim Atmoun, Morocco’s ambassador to Poland.

In addition to Abderrahim Atmoun, two agents of the Moroccan intelligence service are cited in these documents

Tarabella has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters could not determine if Giorgi had provided any evidence for his allegations against Tarabella and Cozzolino.

Cozzolino did not respond to an emailed request from Reuters for comment but told Italian news agencies: “I am not under investigation. I have not been questioned. I have not been searched, nor has my office been sealed.”

The European Parliament on Thursday suspended all work on legislation linked to Qatar, and parliament’s president, Roberta Metsola, told EU leaders she would lead reforms to prevent a repeat of a criminal corruption scandal.

(With additional reporting by Georgi Gotev)

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