The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office also enters the Qatargate scandal officially and independently. The investigators have opened a file with the hypothesis of money laundering and enrolled the first two suspects. I am Manfred Forte e Dario Vittorio Scolaformer partners of Equality Consultancy, the company established in December 2018 by the father and brother of Francesco Giorgi and the accountant Monica Rossana Bellini.
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Account investigations
At least 300,000 euros would have passed through the investigations by the Guardia di Finanza judicial police into the accounts of Equality. A flow of money corresponds to the bribes received by Pier Antonio Panzeri and former assistant Francesco Giorgi, both arrested in Belgium on charges of bribing MEPs to favor the positions of Qatar and Morocco in the Brussels and Strasbourg assembly.
The interrogation
It was Giorgi himself in an interrogation with the investigating judge Michel Claise who spoke of Equality, closed in June 2021. “Panzeri believed that rather than taking the money in cash, it would have been preferable to create a legal structure in which we could have participated”. To develop this plan, Bellini, the accountant of the Panzeri family with her professional studio in Opera (Milan), would have been involved.
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Kaili’s statements
“The company provided services for a company based in England,” the husband of former European Parliament deputy Eva Kaili put on record. Panzeri’s daughter also contributed to the creation: «Silvia – Giorgi affirmed – prepared the papers as a lawyer while I contributed to the creation of Equality with my linguistic knowledge. To justify the use of an Italian company with an English one, the services had to be done in English».
Evaluations for further registrations
The register of suspects in the Milanese investigation is destined to expand. Evaluations are underway to make further registrations. Among these also those of Bellini. However, there are ne bis in idem critical points about her as she is already personally involved in the Brussels investigation. On January 17, she was arrested on a European arrest warrant and placed under house arrest the day after. The Milan appeals court then released her on 10 February.