Two deputies of the European Parliament were detained as part of the investigation of the Catangaite Corruption case of receiving bribes from Qatar in an attempt to influence the decisions of the European Parliament, the agency DPA.
reported.
Belgian police took into custody of Mark Tarabell. Searches were held in the office and in the house of the parliamentarian. In Italy, Andrea Kotzzolino was detained. This happened at the exit from the hospital in Naples, where Cotszolino is treated. His office was also a search.
both deputies are suspected of receiving bribes from a certain “third country.” According to the media, we are talking about Qatar, in the case of Kotzzolino – also about Morocco. In early February, both politicians were deprived of deputy inviolability in connection with the investigation of the case and excluded from the group of social democrats in the European Parliament.
Mark Tarabell is suspected that for two years he “supported certain positions in the European Parliament in favor of a third country in exchange for cash payments” totaling from 120 to 140 thousand euros, the European Parliament reports. Andrea Kotssolino, according to the investigation, also for monetary rewards “could be involved in corruption acts that arose as a result of the intervention of one or more foreign states in order to influence the debate and decisions made in the European Parliament.” Both Tarabella and Kotzzolino deny their guilt.
The corruption scandal in the European Parliament flared up in December last year, recalls Deutsche Welle. In his center was Deputy Chairman of the EP Eva Kylie. She and five more were detained on December 9 in Brussels. Two of them were subsequently released. The Belgian prosecutor’s office suspects that Qatar tried through them “to influence the decisions of the European Parliament with the help of significant monetary amounts and gifts.” The official doha rejects all the accusations. Kylie and other defendants were charged with involvement in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption. During the searches, 1.5 million euros were seized from the defendants in the case.