Ex-MEP charged over Qatargate corruption scandal cuts deal with Belgian prosecutors to tell all

Pier Antonio Panzeri, the former Italian MEP behind the Qatargate corruption scandal has agreed to tell all in a deal with Belgian prosecutors.

Panzeri, 67, was among four people detained last month in the European Parliament corruption investigation that has rocked the institution. The deal will see Panzeri receive a reduced sentence in exchange for information on the scandal.

A statement by the Belgian prosecutor said Panzeri will inform investigators of key details in the ongoing probe that seeks to establish whether foreign countries, including Qatar and Morocco, illegally influenced the parliament’s work.

Qatar has denied that it tried to gain influence through gifts and money while Morocco has also rejected allegations that it sought influence on issues such as fishing rights and the disputed status of Western Sahara.

The other suspects include serving Greek MEP, Eva Kaili, who has been stripped of her role as a vice-president of the parliament, her partner Francesco Giorgi, and lobbyist Niccolò Figà-Talamanca.

Photos released by the Belgian police show the bags of cash that were seized from the homes of those who have so far been charged with corruption

After Panzeri left the parliament he became the head of a lobby group called Fight Impunity, which is at the centre of the probe. Figà-Talamanca worked from the same building in Brussels for a separate NGO.

Panzeri will hand over information on financial arrangements, the countries involved, who benefited and who was involved.

On Tuesday evening, one of Panzeri’s lawyers, Laurent Kennes, said his client “acknowledges having participated in acts of corruption.”

“He also acknowledges participating in a criminal organisation, and according to the terms used by the public prosecutor’s office, he acknowledges being the leader or one of the leaders of the criminal organisation,” Kennes said on Belgian TV.

“This is not a trivial admission. These are indeed relatively serious facts,” he added.

Panzeri’s admission and decision to collaborate with prosecutors came as an Italian court in Brescia ruled that his daughter could be extradited to Belgium to face criminal charges there. 

Belgian authorities believe Silvia Panzeri, 38, she was aware of her father’s illegal activities.

Last month, the same court in Brescia ruled that Panzeri’s wife, Maria Colleoni, could be extradited but an appeal is pending.

On Tuesday afternoon, Belgian press reported that Panzeri admitted having given €120,000 to Marc Tarabella, a Belgian socialist MEP, for whom federal prosecutors requested immunity to be lifted.

Parliament is currently in the process of deciding on whether to lift immunity from prosecution for Tarabella and Italian socialist MEP Andrea Cozzolino, both deemed as persons of interest by Belgian prosecutors.

Lawyers for both MEPs have denied that they played any part in the scandal, but the request is being reviewed by parliament's legal affairs committee.

Regarding another Belgian MEP, Maria Arena, who failed to declare a paid-for Qatar trip taken in May 2022, Panzeri’s lawyer said his client “wanted to say that he was particularly sorry.”

“One of the reasons why he wants to express himself today is because he knows that he has betrayed… the trust of certain people, and Maria Arena is one of them,” the lawyer said, adding that Panzeri would say that Arena “had nothing to do with it.”

The European Parliament has been rocked by the sprawling corruption scandal

In exchange for collaborating, Panzeri will receive a limited sentence including jail time, a fine and confiscation of assets he acquired as part of the scheme, estimated at €1 million. Laurent Kennes said the prison sentence could run from one to 10 years, with negotiation over this point ongoing.

This is only the second instance that Belgium has invoked the use of a law was created in 2018 and modelled on the Italian ‘pentiti’ law by which former criminals become collaborators of the state in exchange for information and testimony against organised crime groups.

Panzeri’s admission of guilt is surely going to deepen the crisis that has hit the European Parliament.

EP President Roberta Metsola has acted quickly to propose a series of new rules to tighten lobbying activities involving MEPs and parliament officials. However, she has stopped short of proposing an independent oversight mechanism for MEPs.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Metsola was asked whether she thought there would be more corruption revelations and her reply was: “I’m sure we’ll continue to have different requests from the police.”

“There will always be investigations. But what I hope is that we create firewalls” against corruption, she added.