The Belgian authorities suspect “a Gulf state” of bribing assistants of MEPs. This is reported by the Belgian weekly Knack and daily newspaper Le Soir Friday. According to Belgian media, the investigation is about Qatar, but the OM does not want to confirm this.
The investigation, which has been carried out since July, concerns “alleged corruption, criminal organization and money laundering” within the European Parliament. A spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office tells Knack that investigators suspect “a Gulf state” of “trying to influence economic and political decisions of the European Parliament”. This would have been done, among other things, by paying ‘substantial sums of money’ or offering ‘large gifts’ to people in important positions within the European Parliament.
The Belgian Public Prosecution Service confirms to ANP news agency that the police conducted sixteen house searches on Friday. During the house searches, four people were taken in for questioning and the police seized computers, telephones and approximately 600,000 euros in cash.