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Belgium’s intelligence service last summer named a prominent MEP as a key suspect in its Qatargate corruption investigation whom prosecutors have yet to question, according to leaked documents from the case.
The house of Maria Arena, former chair of the European parliament’s human rights committee, was one of multiple locations searched by investigators on Wednesday, expanding the scope of the corruption investigation.
But the raids came a year after the Socialist MEP was alleged to be part of “a criminal organisation” taking bribes for political favours, according to the original Belgian secret services probe and a police summary sent to prosecutors and seen by the Financial Times.
The findings of the intelligence service, submitted in July 2022, alleged the Belgian MEP played a “particularly important” role in the corruption ring, receiving precious gifts from Qatar in return for supporting policy proposals “dictated” by the Gulf state.
The disclosures raise further questions over the conduct of the investigation into one of the EU’s biggest graft scandals in decades, which alleged that Qatar and Morocco spent millions to buy influence with a corrupt ring of lawmakers.
The Qatargate probe recently suffered a serious setback after Michel Claise, the prosecuting judge, was forced to step down amid allegations of a conflict of interest. Claise’s son Nicolas co-founded a business selling CBD — a cannabis derivative — products with Ugo Lemaire, the son of Arena.
Arena’s home was one of five locations linked to her and her family searched on Wednesday by Belgian police, according to the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office. “Investigators seized documents and electronic equipment,” the office said. Arena issued a statement after the search saying “the investigation will confirm that I am not implicated”.
The MEP has still to be questioned by authorities and no request has been made to lift her parliamentary immunity. Investigators can question Arena if she agrees. Michèle Hirsch, Arena’s lawyer, said “she will probably be heard at a date yet to be set”.
Arena was forced to resign as chair of the parliament’s human rights committee in January after failing to fully declare a trip to Qatar funded by its government.
She is a close associate of Pier Antonio Panzeri, her predecessor as chair of the human rights committee, who in a plea deal with prosecutors admitted to being the ringleader of the corruption scheme.
The declassified summary of the State Security Service (VSSE) investigation, marked “urgent”, was sent last summer to Raphael Malagnini, the federal prosecutor in charge of the case. It describes Arena as playing “a particularly important role” in the corruption ring where she allegedly worked “closely with Panzeri on behalf of Qatar”.
“Arena benefits from the advice and the influence of Panzeri and he uses Arena’s position as chair of the human rights committee (DROI) in the European parliament to exercise his influence,” the report alleged.
According to the report, the two politicians travelled together to Qatar and Morocco multiple times and “certain smaller sums of money were received directly in Qatar by Panzeri and Arena, as well as precious gifts”.
The report alleges that Arena’s work was “not simply limited to contacts that could be justified by Arena’s [parliamentary] role”. It added: “These are rather situations where [the state of] Qatar dictates the policy proposals that she will back as chair of the human rights committee.”
Claise declined to comment. The federal prosecutor’s office last month said that “during the course of the investigation it emerged that parts of it would focus on somebody close to Claise’s entourage and he had therefore decided to take a step aside”.
Panzeri refused to address allegations that Arena was involved in his corruption scheme, citing their personal relationship, according to an account of his first questioning in December.
After striking a plea bargain earlier this year, Panzeri told investigators that he travelled with Arena to Morocco in 2015. “She accompanied me for two or three days to La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech where we had some meetings with the [Western Sahrawi] community,” he told investigators according to a transcript of the February 2 hearing seen by the FT. “I think Maria Arena thought that I had invited her but in reality the trip was paid for by [Moroccan officials] and not me.”
A lawyer for Panzeri declined to comment on the details of this story saying “we have chosen not to comment on the investigation through the press”. Arena’s lawyer declined to comment on the details of the investigation. The Belgian federal police, the VSSE and the prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
