A key figure in the Qatargate scandal has turned informant, and this news is covered across the EU’s media landscape today.
The deal struck between Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former Euro MP, and Belgian investigators is expected to trigger a widening of the investigation given that he is allegedly the kingpin in the network that funnelled cash to corrupt lawmakers.
Some in Brussels could be suffering ‘sleepless nights’.
Belgian media have been first with this story and there are more details in today’s Het Nieuwsblad, a Flemish newspaper, which points out that this kind of plea bargain is rare in Belgium. It is in fact only the second time that the country’s plea bargain law has been used, the first being a 2018 deal with a goalkeeper in order to lift the lid on match-fixing in football.
Het Nieuwsblad goes on to detail the deal that Panzeri can expect: a five-year jail term, of which four years are suspended, and an 80,000 euro fine – most of which will not be paid if the conditions of the suspended sentence are adhered to. Belgian investigators will unsurprisingly not be giving back the million euros in cash they confiscated during their raids last month.
Panzeri is still behind bars pending a bail hearing, the newspaper reports, and cooperation could ensure that he is freed under electronic tagging. “Mr. Panzeri’s life has stopped since his arrest. He’s desperate. Not wanting to fight, he strikes a mea culpa and goes to tell everything he knows,” he lawyer is quoted as saying.
