Several Moroccan officials have been questioned in Morocco as part of the investigation initiated in Belgium into an alleged corruption scandal involving the European Parliament and benefiting both the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Qatar, according to the federal prosecutor's office.
Abderrahim Atmoun © MD
Several Moroccan officials have been questioned in Morocco as part of the investigation initiated in Belgium into an alleged corruption scandal involving the European Parliament and benefiting both the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Qatar, according to the federal prosecutor's office.
These are the first hearings conducted in Morocco in this investigation that was launched in Brussels in the summer of 2022, based on reports from Belgian intelligence services.
In the scandal known as "Qatargate," both Rabat and Doha have consistently denied any involvement in corruption.
"Belgian investigators traveled to Morocco this week, along with the investigating judge and a magistrate from the federal prosecutor's office, for investigative duties and hearings," an official from the federal prosecutor's office said, refusing to disclose any specific details about the identities of those questioned.
According to RTBF and Le Soir, one of them is Moroccan Ambassador Abderrahim Atmoun.
Belgian police and magistrates were in Rabat, reportedly from Tuesday to Thursday, as observers during the hearings conducted by Moroccan investigators, as is customary in the framework of an international rogatory commission.
The name of Mr. Atmoun has been mentioned by several other suspects over the past year before the investigators.
This 68-year-old diplomat, currently Morocco's Ambassador to Poland, is suspected of playing a pivotal role in the fraud orchestrated on the European side by Pier Antonio Panzeri.
He is alleged to have offered money and gifts to the former Italian MEP (2004-2019) and his entourage in exchange for using his influence in favor of Morocco within the EU's only elected institution.
The case came to light on December 9, 2022, when Belgian police seized a total of 1.5 million euros in cash during raids in Brussels, found in suitcases and bags. A large portion of the sum was discovered at Mr. Panzeri's residence.
To date, seven individuals have been formally charged, including three Socialist MEPs - Greece's Eva Kaili, Belgium's Marc Tarabella, and Italy's Andrea Cozzolino - as well as Mr. Panzeri. The latter has the status of a "collaborator" after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for a limited prison sentence. However, investigators are also looking into several officials from Morocco and Qatar, including Qatari Minister of Labor Ali bin Samikh al-Marri.
In May of last year, an arrest warrant against this Qatari minister had been lifted by Belgian authorities to facilitate difficult negotiations with Tehran, aimed at securing the release of a Belgian imprisoned in Iran.
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