Qatargate: ‘Repentant Suspect’ Antonio Panzeri – Signed Deal With Belgians To Tell All

Pierre Antonio Pancheri signed a memorandum with the Belgian authorities for the Qatargate case, according to an official announcement by the prosecution, in order to have a reduced sentence.

In particular, the prosecution states: “In a case opened by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for suspected fraud within the European Parliament and assigned to a Brussels investigator, there was an important development today. One of the important key figures in the case, Pierre Pantcheri, assisted by his lawyers, signed a memorandum with the federal prosecutor under articles 216/1 to 216/8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. These articles concern suspects who repented of a case.

This refers to a commitment by which one repentant makes substantial, revealing, true and complete statements about the involvement of third parties and, if applicable, his/her own involvement in criminal offenses within the particular case’.

The statement goes on to say that “Pierre Pantcheri was charged on December 10, 2022 with participating in a criminal organization as a leader for money laundering and active and passive corruption.

With this memorandum, he undertakes to inform the investigators and the Court specifically about:

• the mode of operation,
• the financial arrangements with other involved parties,
• the financial structures that were set up,
• the stakeholders of the structures and the benefits offered;
• the involvement of known and unknown persons in the investigation, including the identity of the persons he admits to have bribed.”

“According to the memorandum signed today, a limited sentence is provided for Pierre Pancheri. The penalty includes imprisonment, a fine and the confiscation of all assets acquired, which are currently estimated at one million euros,” the statement said.

It is also reported that “it is the second time in Belgian legal history, since the introduction of the so-called “pentiti” law (s.s. pentiti regret, which refers to the Italian law that allows investigations into the mafia), that these proceedings end at the signing of the memorandum. In both cases, the case was handled by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.”