Panzeri and Giorgi remain in prison for at least a month. Former MEP Antonio Panzeri and Francesco Giorgi will remain in prison for at least a month. This is what the judges of the Council Chamber of the Court of Brussels decided at the end of the first hearing on Qatargate. For the fourth detainee, Nicolò Figà-Talamanca, the electronic surveillance regime has instead been ordered which allows him to leave prison. This was reported by Giorgi’s lawyer after hearing from ANSA. As far as Eva Kaili is concerned, the decision was postponed, at the request of the former EP vice president, to 22 December next. In a month the four will have to appear again in court.
MEPs on the payroll. It is one of the hypotheses on which the Belgian magistrates are working in the investigation into the so-called ‘Qatargate’. In other words, there would be MEPs ‘on the payroll’ to favor the emirate. This would be one front of the investigations in the investigation that led to the arrest in recent days, among others, of the now former vice president Eva Kaili and former MEP Antonio Panzeri. On the basis of a European investigation order, in recent days the Milanese magistrates have ordered a series of searches carried out by the Gdf.
More than 60 MEPs would be targeted of the maxi-investigation on Qatargate conducted by the Belgian judiciary. This was reported by the private Greek television MegaTv. The European parliamentarians who could be affected by investigations and searches, again according to the Greek broadcaster, would mostly belong to the political families of the Socialists & Democrats, the European People’s Party and other left-wing parties. The rumors were also relaunched by the German online magazine Focus.de, but they do not find any confirmation from the Belgian federal prosecutor.
Kaili was unaware of the money at her house. MEP and former European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili ‘was unaware of the money’ found at her home. Her lawyer told AFP. According to the lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos Kaili she has “no relation to the money found at her home (…) she did not know of the existence of this money”, she assured her, reiterating that her client is “innocent”. According to Belgian media, banknotes worth 750,000 euros were discovered in her Brussels apartment, 600,000 of which were in a suitcase carried by the father of Greek politics.
20,000 euros seized from Francesco Giorgi’s home. Around 20,000 euros in cash were seized from a home in Abbiategrasso in the province of Milan, in Francesco Giorgithe companion of the now former vice president of the European Parliament Eva Kailiboth arrested like the former MEP Antonio Panzeri in the Brussels investigation into the so-called Qatargate. The seizure was carried out by the Milanese Gdf in execution of a European investigation order which already yesterday led to some searches. Giorgi is collaborating with the Belgian investigators.
Media: Part of Panzeri and Kaili’s money issued in Belgium. Part of the cash found by the police in the homes of Panzeri and Kaili, as well as in the bags owned by the Greek MEP’s father, were issued in Belgium, according to reports from the Belgian newspaper L’Echo. This aspect could allow further progress in the investigations of the prosecutor. As the Belgian press itself recalls, “knowing the place of issue, it will be easy to locate the bank where the s were withdrawn
bribesand therefore the current account and the identity of the person who made the withdrawal”.
Francesco Giorgi spoke to the investigators. In the first interrogations carried out by the Central Office for the repression of corruption, one of the four people accused in the Qatargate case spoke at length with the Belgian investigators. According to informed sources it would be Francesco Giorgi, companion of the former vice president of the Eurochamber Eva Kaili. The Belgian Public Prosecutor’s Office, when asked about it, did not deny the reconstruction. According to the Belgian press – which does not mention his name and surname – one of the four people questioned mentioned the name of the socialist MEP Marc Tarabella.
It amounts to over one and a half million euros the total number of banknotes found by the Belgian police during searches of the homes of Antonio Panzeri and the former vice president of the Eurochamber Eva Kailiboth under arrest for Qatargate. Francesco Giorgi also lived in Kaili’s home, also under arrest. This is what the Belgian media report quoting the federal police. The count also includes cash found in the suitcase that Kaili’s father was carrying as he was leaving a Brussels hotel. The Belgian federal police, meanwhile, has released a photo of the cash found at Panzeri’s house, in Kaili’s home and in the bags that the Greek MEP’s father had at the time of his arrest.
The former vice president of the Eurochamber was transported to Haren prison in the past few hourson the north-eastern outskirts of Brussels, according to what is learned from the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office. Haren Jail was completed in recent months and its guests include Salah Abdeslam, the sole survivor of the Bataclan terrorist commando. The Belgian prosecutor, asked about it, did not want to confirm whether the other three arrested – Panzeri, Francesco Giorgi, Niccolò Figà-Talamanca – are also in the same structure. All four are expected tomorrow for the first preliminary hearing on Qatargate.
The European Parliament approved the dismissal from the office of vice president of the EP of Kaili just this morning. The plenary voted yes with a majority of more than two thirds (625 votes), as foreseen by Parliament. One against and two abstentions. The vote was held by roll call at the request of the S&D, The Left and ID groups, the offices of the European Parliament said. An analysis of the votes shows that Mislav Kolakušić, a Croatian from the non-members, voted against. The Dutch of Ecr, Dorien Rookmaker, and the German of Id, Joachim Kuhs abstained.
