BRUSSELS. Amounts of money he claims to have paid Francesco Giorgiher partner Eva Kylie and aide to former MEP Pier Antonio Pancheriprotagonist of the scandal Cathargate, a renowned Turkish lawyer specializing in human rights cases. OUR Khakan Chamuza lawyer based in London, said he had signed two “parliamentary services” contracts with Giorgi, which included facilitating meetings with MEPs aimed at “ethical lobbying”, such as promoting a European Parliament resolution condemning war crimes in Syria and Yemen, organizing public events in Brussels, asking questions of the European Parliament and providing European funds for humanitarian missions.

Giorgi admitted to helping Pancheri set up a number of companies to hide bribery from foreign governments, including Morocco and Qatar. Chamuz, who maintains ties to the Erdogan government, said he was “shocked and outraged” by the case, denying any knowledge of Pancheri and Giorgi’s illegal activities.

According to a report by the Financial Times, non-governmental organizations and humanitarian funds owned by or associated with Chamouz paid a total of 350,000 euros to companies owned by Pancheri and Giorgi between 2018 and 2022.

“We signed the contract thinking that we were approaching an official consultant who would help us inform the public about humanitarian issues in Syria and Yemen,” Shamuz says. Giorgi reportedly reached out to a Turkish lawyer, offering his “ethical lobbying” services in Brussels “at a very favorable price,” according to Chamuz. “He deceived us into believing that he was the most suitable person for our needs in the European Parliament. Unfortunately, the result of his actions in the European Parliament turned out to be much lower than our expectations,” Shamuz says.

In a statement to the Belgian authorities, Giorgi said his role was to facilitate communication between Panzeri’s daughter and Chamouz, as the young lawyer and the former MEP’s daughter did not speak English. Silvia Panzeri was arrested in December along with her mother and husband Panzeri for temporary detention by Italy’s economic police. The Belgian authorities refused the request for extradition to Belgium after Pancheri’s deal with the Belgian prosecutor’s office.

The Italian Financial Prosecutor’s Office, for its part, has expanded its investigations to gather evidence of a money laundering network that the Pancheri and Giorgi families have set up.