Belgian prosecutors’ investigation into alleged corruption and influence buying in the European Parliament by Qatar and Morocco has expanded.
According to European Pravda, Politico writes about this , referring to an international arrest warrant.
MEPs Maria Arena and Alessandra Moretti are linked to an investigation by Belgian prosecutors into an arrest warrant against Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino, who was arrested last week on charges of corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
The warrant was issued on February 10 by Belgian investigating judge Michel Klose.
According to the document, Arena and Moretti were members of the quadrumvirate, along with Cozzolino and Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella, who was also arrested last week.
The four, according to the warrant, were following the instructions of former MEP Pierre Antonio Panzeri, the alleged ringleader of a network operating in the European Parliament, who entered into a plea agreement with the Belgian prosecutor’s office.
One example cited in the warrant alleges that Arena and Moretti acted on instructions from Panzeri during a meeting on a possible European Parliament resolution on Qatar in late 2021. Panzeri, who at that time was no longer a member of the European Parliament and himself was not present at the meeting, gave instructions to his former assistant, seeking to influence a possible resolution.
The plan and the identities of the members of the so-called quadrumvirate were revealed in text messages sent to Panzeri by his former assistant, Giuseppe Meroni, who at the time, according to the warrant, was still working for the S&D group. Last month, Panzeri entered into a plea deal with Belgian prosecutors in exchange for an exchange of information and a reduced sentence.
After the meeting, Panzeri received a briefing on what had happened from Arena, as well as from Francesco Giorgi—another of his former assistants who was working for Cozzolino at the time. Giorgi is the partner of Eva Kaili, a former vice-president of the European Parliament, and is currently in prison himself.
source: eurointegration
