The Belgian police took Marc Tarabella into custody. His office and home were searched. Andrea Cozzolino was detained in Italy as he was leaving a hospital in Naples where he had been treated. His office was also searched.
Both MEPs are suspected of taking bribes from a “third country”. According to media reports, the country in question was Qatar and, in Cozzolino’s case, Morocco as well. In early February, both politicians were stripped of their parliamentary immunity amid the investigation into the case and expelled from the Social Democrat group in the European Parliament.
Marc Tarabella is suspected of backing “certain positions within the European Parliament in favor of a third country in return for cash payments” totaling €120,00-€140,000 over two years, according to the European Parliament report. Andrea Cozzolino, according to the investigation, could also have been “involved in acts of corruption resulting from the interference of one or more foreign countries to influence the debates and decisions taken in the European Parliament” for cash payments. Both Tarabella and Cozzolino deny wrongdoing.
A corruption scandal erupted in the European Parliament last December, recalls Deutsche Welle. In the center of it was the Vice President of the EP Eva Kaili. She and five others were detained on December 9 in Brussels. Two of the detainees were later released. Belgian prosecutors suspect that Qatar tried to “influence the decisions of the European Parliament through them with significant sums of money and gifts.” Official Doha denies all accusations. Kaili and others involved in the case are charged with association with a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption. €1.5 million were seized from the suspects in the raids.
