The amount found in the house of Antonio Panzeri, that of Eva Kaili and the suitcase carried by the father of the Greek MEP amounts to one and a half million euros in cash .
And then there is the seizure of twenty thousand euros carried out in the home of Francesco Giorgi in Abbiategrasso.
The Qatar gate , the investigation that has overwhelmed the European Parliament in Brussels with four validated arrests so far , continues to expand.
Kaili, former vice president of the EU Parliament now dismissed, Panzeri, former MEP and founder of the NGO Fight Impunity which allegedly acted as a go-between for illegal activities, Giorgi, parliamentary assistant of the Pd MEP Andrea Cozzolino, and Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, secretary general of the NGO No Peace Without Justice.
But other names could soon end up in the storm: the Belgian investigators have carried out new searches , for example in the office of Michelle Rieu , head of unit of the Eurochamber whose activity is linked to the subcommittee on Human Rights. Seals have also been placed on the office of Davide Zoggia , a former Italian MP and assistant to MEP Pietro Bartolo. And the Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella , perhaps up to now protected by parliamentary immunity, who in the EU only falls into the act of committing a crime, and has already been suspended by the Belgian socialist party.
Kaili, dismissed by vice president, Giorgi, Panzeri and Niccolò Figà-Talamanca will appear in court in the next few hours for the preliminary hearing. The federal police released the first photo of the cash found at the Ellenica, at his father and at Panzeri's house: many small denomination notes, including ten and twenty euro notes .
In the meantime, many have asked for a squeeze against the lobbies while the arrows against the Socialists have not been lacking from the right. In the meantime the Qatar gate extends its shadow over relations with Doha . The EU-Qatar Friendship Group has been suspended. The MEP delegation that deals with the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf has postponed its trip scheduled for February. "I expect that the issue will be raised" at the European Council, explained a senior EU official recalling how, in practice, the president of the Eurochamber Roberta Metsola intervenes at the beginning of the meeting. "I expect support from the leaders, and a clear line on the issue of corruption," added the source.
(Unioneonline/D)
