Francesco Giorgi, the lover of Greek MP Eva Kaili, former Vice President of the European Parliament, who was detained in Belgium on charges of taking bribes from Qatar, made striking confessions.
New developments took place in the corruption scandal involving the dismissed Vice President of the European Parliament, Greek deputy Eva Kaili…
Italian EP assistant Francesco Giorgi, who was detained in the European Parliament (EP)-related corruption and bribery investigation carried out in Belgium, admitted that he was part of an organization that took bribes from other countries in order to ensure that the EP was effective in its decisions. In addition to the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, which published the leaked information since the beginning of the investigation, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on the statements given by Giorgi, Eva Kaili’s lover, to the police and the investigating judge.
Accordingly, Giorgi said in his statement that he was part of an organization that received money and valuable gifts from Morocco and Qatar, in return trying to influence decisions in the European Parliament. Claiming that the head of the organization is Pier Antonio Panzeri, the former Italian MP of the AP, Giorgi stated that his duty in the organization is to “manage the cash flow”
BAGS FULL OF CASH FOUND
Giorgi also stated that two MEPs received money from Panzeri, namely Italian socialist MP Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian MP Marc Tarabella. Whether Giorgi had mentioned Kaili in his statement was not included.
The police searched Tarabella’s home at the weekend, accompanied by EP Chairperson Roberta Metsola, in accordance with Belgian law. Tarabella is not among the four people detained in the investigation.
Panzeri’s lawyer stated that he did not even see the statement documents himself, and that he was surprised that it was published in the press. Lawyer Laurent Kennes said this constituted a breach of confidentiality.
In the corruption, bribery and money laundering investigation carried out by the Belgian authorities, searches were made at many points last week, 1.5 million euros in cash were seized and 4 people were detained. The detainees are Greek MP Eva Kaili, whose EP vice presidency has been terminated, former Italian EP MP Pier Antonio Panzeri, Kaili’s partner and EP assistant Francesco Giorgi, and Niccolo Figa, the director of a non-governmental organization working on rule of law issues. It was announced that he was in Talaman.
NAME IS ALSO MENTIONED IN MOROCCO
It was alleged that these people took bribes from a Gulf country to influence the economic and political decisions of the EP. Qatar, which was mentioned in the news on the subject, denied the allegations.
In the later news, it was claimed that Morocco also bribed these people, and it was claimed that Moroccan intelligence and Moroccan Ambassador to Poland Abderrahim Atmoun met with the suspects.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the EP was preparing for reforms following the corruption investigation. EP Chairperson Reborta Metsola said that she has proposed a comprehensive reform package as of today, saying, “We must correct the mistakes,” and that she hopes it will be ready at the beginning of the new year.
According to Metsola’s information, the reform package includes strengthening the parliament’s whistleblower protection system, banning all informal friendship groups, reviewing the protection of moral principles and conducting a deep study of relations with third countries.