The revealing documents related to the corruption scandal are in line. The protagonist of the Brussels corruption scandal, the former Socialist Vice-President of the European Parliament (EP), whose house arrest was lifted during the summer, testified to the investigators that her poor husband really had a suitcase worth of cash from suspicious sources in his possession, but he did not attribute it to this. particular importance. Francesco Giorgi and his partner admitted to accepting bribes, but denied being part of a network. The fourth protagonist of the story, Andrea Cozzolino, denies the accusations brought against him and feels that he is the victim of a deception.

As we previously reported, the Brussels-based Politico gained access to perhaps the most important documents of the Qatargate case that broke out a year ago: former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and his assistant, Francesco Giorgi, meticulously recorded their attempts to manipulate the EP for four years.

At the same time, these records are not the only ones that provide insight into the corruption scandal, as the documents on the police interrogations .

"What I received - I admit that it is not official - I received it for advice, not for the purpose of corruption," Pier Antonio Panzeri, who left the European Parliament in 2019 to found an NGO, told the police upon his arrest. He later admitted to accepting money from Qatar, but strongly denied any wrongdoing and described his work as classic lobbying. He said that for several years he borrowed 17,000 euros (about 6 million forints) in cash from the Gulf state, which amounted to more than 600,000 euros (220 million forints), but he did not disclose the work he had done for Qatar because it was confidential. they wanted to keep things.

Panzeri told police that because he did not report accepting the money, he must have made a mistake. He also added that he only provided information and did not take any steps in favor of Qatar, and that he worked on the condition that the country improve its labor laws in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. Moreover, according to his claim, he also warned the Qataris that their country will not be marketable in Europe if the reforms are not implemented.

According to the documents, Panzeri, who considers himself to be a talented businessman, stated that he was involved in the case, but he was not the one behind it. Just over a month later, in January 2023, it turned out that

the former politician admitted his guilt as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

His right-hand man, Francesco Giorgi, was arrested shortly after Panzeri, on the morning of December 9. He told the investigators that he came to Brussels as an Erasmus student in 2009 and found an internship at the EP. From there he came to Panzeri, he became his assistant.

"For me, Panzeri is a mentor. I can thank her for meeting my wife," he added, referring to Eva Kaili, the former vice-president of the EP, who was also arrested that day.

Giorgi has already categorically denied that he knew about the prohibited activities, let alone that he participated in them. After the police informed that they had arrested Kaili's father, who also found a suitcase full of cash, the man confessed everything.

Kaili, he said, knew about the origin of the money, but was not part of the "network of influence" that he and Panzeri had created.

(Later, changing his mind again, he denied that Kaili knew about the origin of the cash.)

According to him, Panzeri agreed with Qatar to lobby for the country in the European Parliament. He mentioned, almost in passing, that Panzeri also worked for Morocco and Mauritania.

He stated in a regretful tone, “I never liked luxury. I don't know why I went astray."

Eva Kaili herself at first pretended not to know about anything. "I have reached the point where I no longer know anyone, not even my partner," said the former vice-president of the EP, who said that Giorgi was an idealist and quite poor, which was manifested in the fact that he could not take part in joint expenses.

When asked what she was doing with her father's suitcase of money, Kaili said that something dawned on her about the former MEP leaving her a suitcase and some money, and she even suspected that the origin of the money could not be good .

"Before this, I never thought about where that money could come from"

he explained.

He has consistently denied being a member of any network, claiming that any decision he made in favor of Qatar was an official deal he made on behalf of the EU institutions and aimed at building relations with the oil and gas-rich country. “Everyone asked me to continue on this journey,” he noted.

During a second interrogation, Kaili said that Panzeri had partially filled his suitcase with money from Giorgi's safe. He knew which money belonged to Panzeri, because he had it in a bundle, while Giorgi kept his cash "loosely". The other bag in the safe - his own - contained approximately 30-40 thousand euros (10-15 million forints), he admitted. However, he only needed this as a precaution, in case of some kind of "nuclear attack".

Kaili's lawyers filed a legal challenge in the case, claiming that Belgian authorities had mishandled the evidence-gathering process.

Cozzolino's interrogation took place much later than the others, on June 21 this year, after he returned to Brussels after spending months under house arrest in Naples. My life is ruined, the Italian representative told the police. Despite this, he also denied everything, including that he had done anything for the benefit of Qatar or Morocco in the EP. He rejected the accusations that he received 250,000 euros (about HUF 90 million) from Qatar to finance his 2019 election campaign.

"I think I've been tricked"

- lamented Cozzolino.

Source: hirado.hu

Photo: Photo taken on October 10, 2022 in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, of Eva Kaili, a Greek socialist representative and vice-president of the European Parliament, who was taken into custody in Belgium on December 11, 2022, on suspicion of corruption. MTI/EPA/Jalal Morsidi