Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
  The Belgian police raided the house of European Parliament member Maria Arena on the nineteenth of last July as part of the ongoing investigations into a file known as "Qatargate", then they also searched the house of her son, Ugo Lemerre. According to the Belgian news agency, Le Soir newspaper revealed that the inspectors found 280,000 euros in cash there. It is not yet known whether the money is linked to Qatarjet.
The Qatargate corruption scandal is the ongoing political scandal that accuses European Parliament officials, lobbyists and their families of corruption, money laundering and organized crime affected by the governments of Qatar, Morocco and Mauritania. According to the Belgian news agency, it added, “Members of the European Parliament Eva Kayley, Mark Tarabella and Andrea Cozzolino are suspects in the case, while a member admitted Former EP Pierre Antonio Panzeri pleaded guilty.Arena was mentioned in the investigation from the outset due to her friendship with Panzri and her relations with the other three suspects.
In addition, investigating judge Michel Cleese decided in June to recuse himself from the case after it emerged that his son had been running a business with Lemerre since 2018.
Arena herself resigned as chair of the European Parliament's Human Rights Committee in January after Politico revealed she had failed to advertise free flights and luxury hotel accommodation paid for by the Qatari government. It denies any involvement in the Qatargate scandal.