The police carried out sixteen house searches in Brussels early this morning, confirms the Belgian prosecutor’s office. Four people were detained for questioning. According to Knack and Le Soir, these are Italians around the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament. Among others, union leader Luca Visentini and former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri were reportedly arrested.
“Third parties with an important political and/or strategic position in the European Parliament” received “large sums of money” and “large gifts”, the prosecutor said. The intention was to “try to influence the economic and political decisions of the parliament”.
Six tons of cash seized
The OM does not want to confirm that Qatar is the culprit, but keeps it in “a Gulf state”. Insiders tell Knack and Le Soir that it is the host country of the soccer World Cup. The investigation has been going on for “several months”, the judiciary said. It focuses on criminal organization, corruption and money laundering.”
During the house searches, the carabinieri seized computers, telephones and around 600,000 euros in cash.