2011 cash for influence scandal

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In 2011, the

lobbyists
and requesting votes to table or support certain amendments in exchange for money.

Indictments

Strasser[3] and Thaler[4] resigned in March 2011; Strasser was sentenced to four years in jail on 14 January 2013.[5] OLAF dismissed the case against Thaler, claiming that it had been unable to find "evidence to support suspicion of wrongdoing" (though it did blame the European Parliament for "refus[ing] to provide the necessary support during the investigation").[6] However, in January 2014 Slovenia's own judicial system found Thaler guilty and sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.[7]

Claiming innocence, Adrian Severin has refused to step down and continues to work as an MEP, even after he was expelled by the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group of the European Parliament.[8] He was indicted by Romania's anti-corruption agency in September 2013 and in February 2016, he was convicted to three and half years in prison in court, although the judgement was appealed.[9] On 16 November 2016, a final sentence was handed down and his sentence was increased to 4 years imprisonment.[10] He still has the support of the Social Democratic Party, his political party in Romania.

See also

  • Cash for Honours

References

  1. ^ "Public Service Europe: Fighting fraud in Europe - through OLAF". Archived from the original on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2013-04-05.
  2. ^ "Journalistic spoof traps MEPs in bribery affair". EurActiv. 21 March 2011.
  3. ^ Strasser tritt nach neuen Enthüllungen zurück, ORF, 2011-03-20.
  4. ^ "Zoran Thaler odstopil, v Bruslju ga bo nadomestila Kleva". RTV SLO.
  5. ^ "Reuters: Strasser jailed for bribery in European parliament sting". 14 January 2013.
  6. ^ Thaler v Bruslju oproscen obtozb | Delo. Delo.si (2012-02-04).
  7. ^ "Ex-MEP to serve prison in 'cash-for-laws' scandal". EurActiv. 3 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Romanian MEP expelled over bribery scandal". EurActiv. 23 March 2011.
  9. ^ "Former Romanian MEP Adrian Severin sentenced to jail for corruption". Romania Insider. 10 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Adrian Severin, condamnat definitiv la 4 ani închisoare cu executare". Agerpres (in Romanian). 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.