Untold: Opus Dei - Power for Sale, Ep. 2: Ocean’s Eleven

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

Through wiretap transcripts and surveillance footage, captured by Belgian intelligence, Valentina and the investigative reporting team learn just who is involved with this scandal and how it all worked.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reports of squalid conditions and months of unpaid wages have cast a dark shadow over the World Cup. Evidence that migrants working on infrastructure projects in the final months before the tournament have died or suffered abuse. With the world watching, Qatar is trying to improve its image. Qatar is not unique in the Gulf in having a deep, severe human rights crisis in relation to the way migrant workers are employed and their treatment. This is James Lynch. He researches human rights in the world. the Middle East. He is the expert on labour rights in Qatar. Almost all manual labour is carried out by migrant workers, and they have, for decades, been treated very poorly, been discriminated against. They suffer from trafficking and forced

labour. So in 2010, when James heard that the World Cup would be hosted by Qatar, he had real concerns. The city of Doha, you know, when I lived there in 2010, was not ready for a tournament on scale of a World Cup. The football tournament would require an enormous amount of construction. Multiple stadiums, a metro system, an entirely new sewage system, new hotels and roads,

all to be built under the scorching desert sun. Hundreds of thousands of workers were probably recruited into the country who wouldn't have been if the World Cup didn't happen. And there were very serious concerns about the nature and number of deaths in the construction sector. For a long time, perhaps the most concerned voice was the ITUC, the International Trade Union

Confederation, an organization responsible for the rights of millions of workers worldwide. It's worth saying in those first few years, the ITUC's position was that Catter was a slave state, that workers were going to die in their thousands, and that the vote on the World Cup should be rerun. And as ground was broken in the Doha Desert, the worst-case scenario played out. Numerous reports of worker exploitation, substandard living conditions, and worker deaths on construction sites. They're living in really, really appalling conditions, no showers, salty water, and it's making them sick, and it's really shocking to see if it really is. But in 2017, the ITUC seemed to change their position on the labour country.

conditions in Qatar. Saying that claims around worker deaths were a myth, and in fact they became a kind of a kind of cheerleader. It was quite a shock. It was a shift that sent a chill through James and the rest of the NGO community. There is nothing wrong with advocacy groups deciding to be supportive of a government that's reforming, but this praise had gone beyond fact into exaggeration. and was seriously misleading and was undermining other advocacy.

What we were seeing here was a trade union organization that was really very significantly over-exaggerating the progress that had been made in a way that was become, it had become difficult to understand. In the years leading up to the 2022 games, workers continued to die. And meanwhile, James says the ITUC looked the other way. But then, as the Games got closer, something else happened that was alarming to James. Members of the European Parliament also joined the ITUC in praising Qatar. Members like Eva Kiley.

Today, the World Cup in Qatar is a proof, actually, of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historical transformation of a country, with reforms that inspired the Arab world. Eva was giving floor speeches and support of Qatar's progress on labour rights. They committed to a vision by choice and they opened to the world. She wasn't the only one, though. There were several MEPs who stood out in their public praise of Qatar leading up to the World Cup. Jim's thought this was suspicious, but with the words Qatar Gate, everything made sense.

I guess what we wondered, You know, is that what's been going on? Especially as James heard the names of the people who were arrested. One of them was Eva Kiley. And one was a man who turned out to be central to this story. An Italian MEP turned lobbyist named Pierre Antonio Panzeri. But the name James immediately recognized was Luca Vicentini, the head of the ITUC, the trade organization that had changed its tune on Qatar.

Yes, I remember this kind of almost funny but very shocking account of Vicentini and Panzeri being together. This is one of those stories from this scandal that really stuck with me. You just can't make this stuff up. So it's October of 2022, two months before all the arrests. And Belgian intelligence are watching Panzeri on a hidden camera, they installed in his flat. He's under surveillance. They see him talking to Vicentini,

who was running for the top job at the ITUC. Then, Panzeri hands over 50,000 euro in cash, to Vicentini, in envelopes with Santa Claus embossed on them. And as Panzeri passes the envelope, Vicentini makes a comment. And the comment is, it's like we're in Ocean's 11. Who was Panzeri? How did his Qatar operation work?

And who else was involved? From the Financial Times, I'm Valentina Paul, and this is Power for Sale. Episode 2, Oceans 11. In the days after the scandal broke, my colleagues descended on our Brussels office from everywhere. Milan, London, and Athens. And Lenny, our Athens correspondent, was one of the first people to show up.

She told our audio producer Persis about it. Here in this office, everybody, actually the whole office was working on this story. What was the atmosphere? It was buzzing, it was very buzzing, and we were all like, oh my God, this is a huge story. We got right to work, calling sources, people we thought might be connected to this investigation. We looked into rumors about. members of parliament, lobbyists and their families, going on luxurious trips to Qatar.

And the suspect list kept growing, with the assumption that there was more to come. That was expectation that something big is going to come out, that many people are connected, that this is just a tip of the iceberg. But we knew we were missing important points, and some of the details didn't add up. So we decided to lay it all out, on a crime wall.

You know, like in a detective show. So we're like, let's do a board. Let's put the names and the connection so we can have it visually. How many faces are in here, then? 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. I think 19 or 20 people, yeah. And everything on our wall pointed to this one man in the middle.

Pierre Antonio Panzeri, the Ocean's 11 guy. I have Pierre Antonio Panzeri describe as Il Capo with a question mark. What was Il Capo? El Capo is like the kingpin. Yeah, exactly. Belgian intelligence had wiretapped Panzeri, and they had loads of recordings of Panzeri talking to his family and associates about gifts, trips and payments from Qatar.

We put those on the wall too. For example, here the wife and daughter of Panzeri, they went to a trip to Doha on November 2020. They did a holiday paid by Qatar worth of 100,000. In their home, there was 17,000 cash and luxury watches. We knew a little about Panzeri, that he'd worked in Parliament for nearly 20 years, that he was from Milan and only spoke Italian.

But we wanted to know why it was him at the center of our wall. What made him so special? We tried to talk to Panzeri and his lawyers, But they declined to comment. So while Eleni and I kept building our crime wall, Sylvia, our FT correspondent in Milan, tried to figure out who Panzeri really was. One person described him as unscrupulous. One other person said he was greedy.

Apparently it was no secret in his Brussels circles that he would go on these very lavish trips. Some people told Sylvia that Panzeri had developed a bit of a dodgy reputation. in Brussels over the years. He'd been elected back in 2004 to represent the Italian social democrats in the European Parliament. He was a former trade union boss, and on the parliament floor,

he was always an advocate for the workers. Actually, if you listen to his speeches, and of course he didn't speak English, so most of these will be an Italian, but his delivery was always powerful, and he always really stressed the importance of equality, equal rights, workers' rights and giving back to those who were less well-off.

But not be at all costs, and we don't we don't want to close the eyes on what is happened and is happening. Panzeri worked in the parliament long enough that young politicians looked up to him. He was someone people would go to for political advice. They knew he really had a wealth of expertise in the space of human rights.

Even though at times, those who worked with Panzsche, Zerri said he had no boundaries, and his reputation was that of a rather intense boss. He was known to get bored when he was back in Italy and call his contact in Brussels repeatedly. He was rumored to be anxious and obsessive. And he always had this young assistant by his side, an Italian man named Francesco Giorgi. You might remember Francesco's name from last episode. Francesco is Eva Kiley's partner. People told Sylvia that Francesco was attached to Panzeri's hip.

Giorchi began working for him in his early 20s, and the professional relationship continued for years and years. Panzeri only spoke Italian, which is a handicap in Brussels. So Panzeri completely depended on Francesco, who spoke multiple languages and would translate everything for Panzeri. And it seemed like Francesco saw Panzeri as some sort of a mentor. I think it's fair to say that he was a fatherly figure to him for many, many years.

Eva says she saw this dynamic firsthand. All his assistance and the people close to him were very, say, always willing to help him. And I remember this was something also a bit frustrating because he would ask them to help him with his house, with his, if he had a doctor's appointment, to translate for him. also after he stopped working at the parliament. Throughout his career, Panzeri built a reputation as a specialist on human rights in the Middle East, and in his last term in office,

he was the head of the parliament's human rights subcommittee. And from what we know, that's when he started building relations with the likes of Qatar and Morocco. Towards the end of his term in office, Panzeri did something that in hindsight is significant. In 2018, he signed a cooperation agreement with a man named Ali bin Samik Almari,

who was the president of the Qatari Human Rights Committee. This was the first time that Panzeri and Almari made their relationship official. At the time, Almari was Panzeri's counterpart. He was supposed to be the watchdog for labor rights. Qatar. But looking back, it seems like this was all about Qatar wanting to improve its image ahead of the 2022 games. Panzeri lost his re-election campaign in 2019. And that's when he set up an NGO in Brussels called Fight Impunity. And knowing what Panzeri did next, this name is ironic,

to say the least. On Fight Impunity's YouTube channel, Panzeri explained that the organization was trying to achieve its goals through international collaboration. So at this point, Panzeri was out of parliament, but still had a lot of contacts there. And he also kept his former staffer Francesco by his side. Even after Panzer left the European Parliament

and Georgi went on to work for another MEP as parliamentary assistant. They obviously maintained a very close relationship, and Pansetti's influence remained extremely strong over Georgi. Francesco was named as senior advisor for fight impunity, and by late 2019, they were in business. On the one hand, fight impunity did write up reports and held conferences, the kind of things you'd expect from a nonprofit in this field. But there was another side of it, too, a side that stayed out of the public eye.

It turns out that side operated much more like a PR agency for countries in the Middle East. Panzeri was making deals with countries that had floundering reputations, promising to clean up their image in exchange for cash. And one of five impunity's clients was controlled. We'll be back after the break. I'm Christina Coteroucci, and this season on Slow Burn. It's called Proposition 6. The Briggs initially.

John Briggs is going to fire every gay and lesbian school teacher in California. With so much at stake, young people became activists. We can't let this happen in California. And activists became leaders. My name is Harvey Milk. Slow Burn, Season 9, Gays Against Briggs. Out now, wherever you listen. So where are we?

So we're outside Umposte'Ales Solle. Probably Laura's got better pronunciation. Upostole, Italian restaurant. Which is just across the road from where Panseri lives. Our FD Brussels correspondents, Laura and Andy, are standing outside an Italian restaurant with our audio producer Persis.

It's on a quiet street corner in a residential neighbourhood, well away from the hustle and bustle of the European Parliament. Just far enough away just far enough away that it's not likely you'd be seen by any colleagues. This restaurant was a regular haunt of panzeries. I have to admit, he used quite a few Italian restaurants in Brussels, but this was his favorite. And we're going to go for lunch, yeah? Yeah.

But they're not just here to have a bite. They're here because an important meeting took place at this restaurant, a meeting where you can see how Panzeri operated. They pick a table at the back of the restaurant. hoping it will be quieter, but it's a pretty loud place. They're wondering, is this a brilliant place for a business meeting

or a terrible one? I guess the conversation was noisy enough that he would assume nobody was listening. It's here in this Italian restaurant that we can start to imagine an evening back in May of 2022. Panzer is at the table with Francesco, his assistant. Also at the table is Almari, Kanzeris contact, who by that time was the Labour Minister of Qatar.

We can imagine they put in their dinner order, maybe some antipasti, and then they got down to business. They talk about Almari donating 200,000 euros to go towards Luca Vicentini's election campaign. Luca Vincentini's election campaign to become the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. They're discussing how to make sure that a trade union boss favorable to Qatar gets elected.

And then they move on to the European Parliament. Its Human Rights Subcommittee needs to start saying nice things about Qatar and its labor conditions. Mary says he's already been at the Foreign Relations Committee and he obviously wants to do the human rights. Committee as well. I think it's part of setting up that meeting. Panzeri reassures Al-Marie that his connections in the European Parliament will deliver,

especially the person who took over Panzeri's old job. It's a woman named Maria Arena. And also they discussed Maria Renna's role, and it's a bit unclear. What we do know is that at this dinner, Francesco and Panzeri say, no problem. We'll convince Arena. Okay, so you can really start to see now how Panzeri worked. Essentially, he was telling Qatar that he could make things happen for them, through his NGO fight impunity, that he could get members of Parliament to do favors for them.

But these favors weren't for free. The Qataris needed to pay up. Yeah, and it's interesting that they discuss amounts of money. As the dinner continues, they talk specifics. the amount of money that will be distributed to other lawmakers who will be supportive of Qatar. But we don't get a total bill because apparently Georgia's going to work that out

and give it to Elmarry the next morning. This is how it gets done. Francesco, Eva's partner, is the one who figures out how much cash needs to go where and for what. As I say, very much a business meeting. Very much business meeting. a strange, strange business. A strange business meeting,

and one that was being listened to by the Belgian intelligence officers. Remember, they'd been tracking Panzeris every move. They bucked his house, wiretapped his phone, they were following him everywhere. They followed him right into this Italian restaurant. They were maybe even sitting at a table beside him, spying on him. And it's pretty clear that,

Panzeri had no idea. Because by the time they pay and leave, Belgian intelligence is pretty confident they have solid proof that something is going on here. Panzerri and Francesco meet after dinner to decide how much money they'll need from Qatar to carry out this plot they just hatched. Francesco will present their proposal to Almari the next day.

The next time Almari is in town, in October, Belgian intelligence catch a glimpse of Panzeri and Francesco walking into his hotel. Francesco is pushing a stroller with his and Eva's child in it. And Panzeri and Francesco also have a bunch of bags with them. The bags look empty. It's another business meeting and we don't know what was said. But we do know what Belgian intelligence sees. Francesco and Panzeri go into Almari's hotel suite with empty bags and come out with

them full. Over the years, stacks of cash show up at Francesco and Eva's apartment in Brussels. The amount stored at their place by Panzeri was more than 800,000 euros. And Panzeri's cash starts turning up in other people's homes too. By December of 2022, Fight Impunity's business was booming. Panzeri had money stashed throughout Brussels, and the Belgian wiretaps were buzzing with new information. We printed them out, and my colleagues Andy and Laura sat down to read through them. Panzeri instructs Arena on this trip in regards to workers' rights. There are conversations between Panzeri and Arena, who was heading the Human Rights Subcommittee at a time, where he tells her how important it is for her to stay in that job.

For reasons, they both know. So on the 2nd of August, 2022, Panzeri meets Arena at Salvarino Restaurant in Brussels. pizza place. Panzeri tells Elena, don't take yourself out of the game. And anyway, you have the parachute. It exists and I'm interested in it too. Because if you're in the game, me too, I will gather more money. Arina replies, you will have to explain to me where you're getting the money from. Panzeri replies totally. Panzeri, yes, now go on holiday. Then you have to place yourself in this perspective because there is money. I would like to increase it because I think you're strong In these transcripts, it seems clear that Arena is Panzeri's main contact in Parliament.

In one phone call, you can hear Panzeri talk about what went down when he and Arena traveled to Qatar together. This trip was right before that dinner with Almari, in which Panzeri and Francesco say, we'll deal with Arena. And in the following days, they proceed with helping Arena craft that statement about how great Qatar was doing on human rights. and Pansei promises to guide Arana on Qatar's statements. Al-Mari asks, when is Maria going to... Maria Arena did end up publishing a statement, praising Qatar's progress. Almari loved the statement,

and it was printed as part of a promotional packet that Qatar handed out to media covering the World Cup. After his trip to Doha, Panzeri also tells Francesco how much money they're about to receive from Qatar. When Francesco asks, how much should they give you? Panzeri responds, six.

Holy cow, Francesco says. And it seemed like the plan that Panzeri and Almari hatched over an Italian dinner worked. Luca Vicentini was elected in November, literally a day after the World Cup opening. Everything the Belgian intelligence gathered, all of these scenes, detailed how Panzeri operated. Panzeri straddled multiple worlds. the European Parliament, international trade unions, and human rights groups, all based in Brussels. That's why he was the perfect fixer for Qatar. Let me take it off and then we will glue it back together.

Everything and everyone were starting to connect on our crime wall. There were arrows pointing in every direction, Almari, the Qatari paymaster, Vicentini, the trade union boss, the members of parliament on Panzeri's payroll, Arena, Eva, and Francesco, Panzeri's bag boy. We have all these suspects. Eva, Kaili, the father, Georgi, the cash that was found. But then, there was a twist. News came out about Il Capo.

A few weeks after he was arrested, Panzeri signed a plea deal. In exchange for Belgian dropping charges against his wife and daughter, and a lighter sentence for himself, he'd name names. At first, he named predictable names. Some of the names we had on our crime wall, including Maria Arena. But then, he changed his plea and removed his mention of Arena, erased her in his confession. And in her place, he wrote another name, Eva Kylie.

So when we met in Brussels, you told me this was a witch hunt. What do you think went wrong? I think at this point we care for just their truth, not that truth. That's next week on Power for Sale. Power for Sale is Season 2 of Untold, a Financial Times investigative podcast. It is produced with Goat Rodeo. The series lead producers are Rebecca. Saidell and Perce's love.

Reporting by me, Valentina Pop, Laura Dubois, Sylvia Shori Liborelli, Eleni Varviciotti, and Andy Bounds. Writing by me, Megan Nadolski and Rebecca

Seidel. Story editing from Ian Enright, Tofer Forges, and Cheryl Bromley. Executive producers for the Financial Times are Tofer Forges

and Cheryl Brumley. Executive producers for Goat Rodeo are Ian Ann Wright and Megan Naddley. Mixing, Editing and Sound Design by Rebecca Seidel. Editorial and production assistance from Alex Barker, Judith Evans, Isabel Kirby McGowan, Joshua Gabor Doyung, Andrew Georgiades, Tamara Komornek,

Misha Frankel Duval, Edwin Lane, Guilmosoriente and Laura Clark. If you want to share a tip in relation to this podcast, please get in touch at Valentina.pop at FD.com. Thank you to the many sources who shared their stories with us for this series. And thanks for listening.