The European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an “ex officio” investigation against Estonian Henrik Hololei, former Director General of Transport of the European Commission.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed this Friday, November 1, the opening of an investigation into corruption allegations against a senior European Commission official, suspected of having received gifts from Qatar.
Following the publication of an article in the French newspaper Libération, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an “ex officio” investigation against Estonian Henrik Hololei, former Director General of Transport of the European Commission.
The Prosecutor’s Office recalls that “the EU institutions and bodies” “must communicate without delay to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office all criminal acts for which it has jurisdiction” and affirms that, to date, it has not received any communication from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) or the Commission.
According to Libération, OLAF investigators, however, identified in a report a series of “benefits” that Hololei would have benefited from in Qatar, including “stays in five-star hotels, sometimes with family and sessions of shopping”.
According to the French newspaper, Hololei “most of the time he traveled without declaring it on at least 25 occasions at the expense of Qatar” when the senior official was in charge of negotiating an “open skies” agreement with the Emirates, which allowed Qatar Airways greater access to European territory.
This case adds to the so-called “Qatargate”. Since December 2022, the European Parliament has been shaken by suspicions of corruption involving elected representatives of Qatar and Morocco.
On Thursday, questioned during a press conference, the European Commission claimed to have “acted quickly” in the Hololei case, while the OLAF investigation “concluded in July 2024” with a recommendation for “disciplinary follow-up.”
“Immediately”, the Commission transmitted the report to the Investigation and Disciplinary Office (IDOC), with the “mandate to initiate disciplinary action”, said a spokesperson for the European executive.
The case is currently in the “first phase of the pre-disciplinary process”, according to this spokesperson, who did not want to “speculate” about the conclusions of the internal procedure.
Following the first revelations, the 54-year-old senior official left his position as CEO in 2023 to take on a less strategic position as a political “advisor”, which he still holds today.
Source: Observadora
