Italy agrees to transfer suspect in EU graft scandal to Belgium

An Italian court on Monday agreed to hand over to Belgian authorities a woman suspected of involvement in a Qatar graft scandal that has rocked the European Parliament.

An appeals court in the northern city of Brescia ruled there were no grounds to prevent the transfer of Maria Dolores Colleoni, wife of former EU lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri, whom Brussels prosecutors believe is one of the main players in the alleged corruption.

Colleoni, together with her adult daughter Silvia Panzeri, has been under house arrest for more than a week in compliance with a European arrest order issued by Belgian magistrates.

They are wanted over their alleged "participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption".

Belgian prosecutors suspect Greek MEP Eva Kaili and others accepted bribes from World Cup host Qatar in a bid to influence European Union policymaking in one of the biggest scandals to hit the 27-nation bloc.

Angelo De Riso, a lawyer for Panzeri's wife and daughter, confirmed the decision to reporters outside the court. His client now has five days to lodge a possible appeal with the Court of Cassation, the highest in the country, he added.

De Riso said Colleoni denied wrongdoing and had told the court that she knew nothing of her husband's business dealings.

Qatar reiterated on Sunday that it had no involvement in the EU corruption scandal.

DAUGHTER'S HEARING

Extracts of the arrest order seen by Reuters said Panzeri was suspected of receiving payments from Qatar and Morocco to influence people working at the European Parliament, and that his wife and daughter were aware of the activities.

It said they two women took part in the transport of gifts, and Panzeri and his wife had the use of a credit card owned by a third person they called the "giant". The person was not identified.

There was no immediate reaction to a request for comment from the Moroccan government.

A hearing to decide on the handover of Panzeri's daughter will take place on Tuesday before the same Brescia court.

In the meantime investigators in Italy are combing through seven bank accounts related to the suspects, a source close to the investigation said last week.

The source added that in the searches requested by their Belgian colleagues, they had found 17,000 euros in cash at Panzeri's wife's home and 20,000 at a house belonging to another suspect, Francesco Giorgi, the partner of ousted European Parliament vice-president Kaili.