Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament

Qatargate is an ongoing political scandal, involving allegations that European Parliament officials, lobbyists and their families have been influenced by the governments of Qatar, Morocco and Mauritania, engaging in corruption, money laundering, and organized crime.

[1] Law enforcement authorities in Belgium, Italy and Greece seized €1.5 million in cash, confiscated computers and mobile phones, and charged four individuals with the alleged offences.

[11] Kaili's last known action in favour of Qatar before her arrest was casting a vote in the Civil Liberties Committee (of which she was not a member) in support of a report advocating for visa-free travel to the EU for Qatari citizens.

[13][14] On 9 December 2022, acting on the investigation, Belgian police conducted 20 raids at 19 different addresses across Brussels in connection with the conspiracy, resulting in eight arrests across Belgium and Italy.

[16] As required by the Belgian Constitution, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, had to return from her home in Malta to be present during searchers of the properties of Eva Kaili and Marc Tarabella, both of whom who held parliamentary immunity as MEPs.

[33] The day after the raids, on 10 December, a further search was conducted at the home of Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella, Vice Chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula.

[37][38] In addition, Greek authorities seized a 7,000 square-metre plot of land on Paros, Greece in the Cyclades islands, which had been purchased jointly by Kaili and Giorgi.

[39] As the European Parliament convened for the first time following the scandal, on 13 December 2022, at its seat in Strasbourg, France, the offices of MEP Pietro Bartolo and Parliamentary official Mychelle Rieu were sealed by investigators.

The EPPO explained that the request was based on an investigative report from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), regarding raised "suspicion of fraud detrimental to the EU budget, in relation to the management of the parliamentary allowance."

[40] On 2 January 2023, Belgian investigators submitted a request to the European Parliament to strip MEPs Marc Tarabella and Andrea Cozzolino of their parliamentary immunity.

A hearing of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee was scheduled during the parliamentary sitting in Strasbourg on 16 January, allowing the accused MEPs to present their defence.

[19] The parties of both Tarabella and Cozzolino expressed their support for President Metsola's requests to assist the European Public Prosecutor's Office in the investigations and agreed to vote in favour of waiving their immunity.

[48][49] A report by the Financial Times revealed that the Pier Antonio Panzeri received bribes, gifts and luxury hotel stays from the Moroccan government.

Every European Parliament legislative activity in recent years involving Moroccan interests should be retrospectively reviewed to ensure that it has not been influenced by foreign interference.

[57] In testimony given by Antonio Panzeri in February 2023, he and Francesco Giorgi received €200,000 from Mauritania to improve the image of the country in the EU, as requested by then-president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in 2018.

[58] The four charged suspects, Kaili, Panzeri, Giorgi and Figà-Talamanca, were scheduled to appear at the Palais de Justice, Brussels, the country's primary law courts, on 14 December 2022 for arraignment proceedings.

[59][28] Kaili's postponed hearing was eventually heard in an closed session at the Palais de Justice on 22 December from where she was remanded in custody for at least another month despite her appeal for conditional release under electronic supervision.

[39][60] Figà-Talamanca was initially to be released from custody on the condition that he wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, but the decision was overturned on 27 December 2022 after the prosecutors appealed.

[1][67] The group are described as "shockingly amateurish", because they stored the money they received in bribes in their apartments, made hundreds of unencrypted telephone calls and held a "conspiratorial meeting in a hotel that was full of surveillance cameras".

The prosecutor's office said that the action was taken due to "the substantial work he and his investigators have done in this case" and "the absence of any real evidence to cast doubt on the probity of any of the parties involved."

Claise's resignation comes after a request for recusal filed Monday by Maxim Töller, the Liège-based lawyer for MEP Marc Tarabella, a primary suspect in the sprawling case.

[83] Dino Giarrusso MEP reported that he and others had been approached by Qatari officials many times: "They were hoping to improve the country's reputation especially in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup".

[84] A resolution by Manon Aubry condemning the exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar had stalled in the Parliament for more than one year before passing, due to opposition from the S&D and EPP group.

"[29] Annalena Baerbock, the German Minister for Foreign Affairs, highlighted that the scandal is leading to concerns from citizens and affects the credibility and legitimacy of the institutions of the European Union.

"[91] In an attempt to focus the scandal on the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D), rather than the European Parliament as a whole, they continued, "There has been a consistent effort to turn #Qatargate into an institutional issue alone.

[84] Visentini originally voluntarily stood down temporarily as president of the International Trade Union Congress but a specially convened Extraordinary Meeting of the General Council voted to suspend him of all of his duties.

[119] Giorgi is alleged to have helped channel funds from Qatar and Morocco to influence European institutions through setting up the association Fight Impunity together with Antonio Panzeri.

The Italian investigation related to a company called Equality Consultancy in Milan set up by a former accountant of Antonio Panzeri and Giorgi’s father Luciano and brother Stefano in 2018.

Following Visentini's conditional release on Sunday 11 December 2022, in a statement issued through the ITUC, he replied to the allegations by proclaiming his innocence and "reconfirming his absolutely commit[ment] to the fight against corruption"[123][124] He also commented specifically on his confession in relation to receiving two payments from the NGO Fight Impunity of €50,000 and €60,000 by stating the monies were in relation to his campaign to become the General-Secretary of ITUC and that "it was in no way connected to a corruption attempt or aimed at influencing my position on Qatar.

[126][better source needed] As part of Panzeri's plea deal he confirmed the involvement of Qatar and Morocco in the scandal, and admitted to being a leader of the criminal enterprise.