Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella was on Saturday charged with corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization in an investigation into alleged corruption in the European Parliament. A spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor confirmed the allegations to Politico.
His lawyer, Maxime Toler, told Politico that the Belgian MEP had been transferred to the prison of Saint Gilles in Brussels and would be heard in a pre-trial hearing on Thursday, which was also confirmed by a spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor.
The allegations came after Belgian officials on Friday Arrested Tarabella, which was heard by the investigating judge on Saturday morning.
Several raids followed on Friday: a safe deposit box belonging to Tarabella at a bank in Liège was searched by Belgian police, as well as several offices in the Walloon town of Anthiennes, where Tarabella is still mayor.
Three other suspects – former European Parliament Vice President Eva Cali, her partner Francesco Giorgi and MEP Antonio Panzeri – are still in prison.
Panzeri in January make a deal To cooperate with investigators. According to an earlier confession, Panjeri told Tarabella paid Up to €140,000 in kickbacks.
Toller said that “no raids have been enabled [authorities] to corroborate Panzeri’s allegations,” and that investigators are using “finished” facts, based on Panzeri’s early December confession.
The European Parliament waived immunity for both Tarabella and fellow MEP Andrea Cozzolino in a plenary session last week. Paved road way for Belgian investigators to interrogate them.
In the same investigation, another Socialist MEP, the Italian Andrea Cozzolino, was allegedly arrested Friday evening in Italy.
Both Tarabella and Cozzolino deny any wrongdoing.