Belgian investigators carried out further searches on Friday morning linked to the high-profile Qatar bribery scandal that rocked the European Parliament in December.
(Bloomberg) — Belgian investigators carried out further searches on Friday morning linked to the high-profile Qatar bribery scandal that rocked the European Parliament in December.
The first search targeted a bank safe in the city of Liege in the east of Belgium belonging to lawmaker Marc Tarabella, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Several offices of the town hall of Anthisnes in the province of Liege were also searched.
Tarabella was arrested Friday after the European Parliament voted earlier this month to waive immunity for him and Italy’s Andrea Cozzolino. The investigating judge will decide whether Tarabella will appear before him in the next few hours, the statement said.
The searches are the latest escalation in the scandal that involves several political figures, including a former vice president of the parliament, Eva Kaili. Belgian police have seized more than €1.5 million ($1.6 million) in cash as part of an investigation into whether bribes were paid to sway the outcome of European Parliament debates related to Qatar and Morocco.
The growing scandal has been an embarrassment for the EU legislature and raised questions about how much further it may spread.
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