Qatargate Inspector Beaten: Attempted Murder Investigation Opened
A female inspector from Belgium’s Central Office for the Repression of Corruption (OCRC) — one of the last investigators still working on the explosive Qatargate corruption probe — was severely beaten in early June while walking near a meadow in the Hesbaye region of Liège province. The Liège public prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation for attempted murder, marking a potentially dangerous escalation in a case already shadowed by allegations of spyware infections, intimidation, and foreign intelligence interference.
The attack, first reported by La Libre Belgique, involved extreme violence, particularly to the victim’s face and jaw. The inspector remains unable to work due to her injuries. The Liège prosecutor’s office has appointed a forensic doctor as part of the investigation, but no suspect has been identified, and authorities have so far not established a direct link between the assault and the victim’s professional role.
A Pattern of Targeting
This is not the first time investigators on the Qatargate case have faced physical threats. In February 2024, a principal inspector filed a complaint for attempted murder by poisoning after a team-building event left him hospitalized with internal bleeding and elevated amphetamine levels in his blood. That case was dismissed in August 2024 after toxicology tests by the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (INCC) found no traces of drugs, as RTBF reported.
According to The Brussels Times, the federal prosecutor’s office, which oversees the Qatargate investigation, has confirmed it has not opened a separate case related to the June attack.
The Qatargate Scandal
Qatargate erupted in December 2022 when Belgian authorities uncovered a vast corruption scheme allegedly involving Qatar and Morocco seeking to influence decision-making at the European Parliament through bribery. Several MEPs, parliamentary assistants, and NGO figures were arrested in coordinated raids across multiple European cities, with hundreds of thousands of euros in cash seized.
The investigation, codenamed “Mezzo,” was opened on July 12, 2022, by the federal prosecutor’s office following intelligence from Belgium’s State Security service (VSSE). Just sixteen days later, on July 28, 2022, the VSSE held a highly confidential meeting with investigators, warning them of the capabilities of Morocco’s General Directorate for Studies and Documentation (DGED).
Security Warnings Ignored
According to documents obtained by La Libre Belgique and detailed in a companion investigation, the VSSE made specific security recommendations during that July 2022 meeting. These included using encrypted messaging (the Swiss app Threema, costing just €5 per user), dedicated secure computers separate from the regular network, second phones for the investigation, codename usage for suspects, regular logging control checks, and destruction of printed documents in shredders.
“Moroccan services have the necessary means to seek any information that could be useful to them,” the VSSE warned, according to the police report. “They will proceed by first trying to identify the investigators and will attempt to penetrate their telephone or computer systems.”
Most of these recommendations were reportedly never implemented. The encrypted messaging app was allegedly refused for budgetary reasons. Requests for weapons permits outside service hours were denied. Regular phone security checks were not performed.
Pegasus Spyware and Digital Intrusions
The danger materialized quickly. By autumn 2022, analysis revealed that the phones of two investigators, investigating judge Aurélie Dejaiffe, and her clerk had been infected — reportedly with Pegasus spyware developed by Israel’s NSO Group. In 2021, a global media consortium had revealed that Morocco was among governments using Pegasus to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, and politicians.
Despite the gravity of the discovery, no police report was filed. A second round of testing was conducted, but former Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) announced in 2023 that initial results were “false positives.” Sources close to the investigation told La Libre that the second test was “perfectly insufficient,” noting that information exchanged electronically by investigators appeared to have reached suspects.
The federal police have contested these claims, stating that “contrary to what is claimed, these checks did not stop: device analyses are still carried out each year at the request of investigators, with the same conclusions. The available elements do not allow us to confirm the existence of any infection.”
Institutional Turmoil
The security failures prompted Hugues Tasiaux, then interim head of the OCRC, to file a complaint with the Committee P (the police oversight body) in December 2024. “Management has clearly not taken seriously, neither the infection of investigators’ phones by Pegasus spyware, nor the request for weapons permits they made due to the physical threat hanging over them since their participation in this investigation,” Tasiaux wrote.
Committee P rejected Tasiaux’s arguments in February 2025. Months later, Tasiaux’s office and home were raided, and he was charged with violation of professional secrecy — a case stemming from a complaint filed by former MEP Marie Arena, herself charged with participation in a criminal organization in the Qatargate case.
Meanwhile, a federal magistrate supervising the OCRC wrote in an October 2024 email obtained by La Libre: “This is a minimal attention that anyone engaged in this dossier can legitimately expect given the degree of involvement and sacrifice they have conceded for two and a half years.”
Diplomatic Dimensions
The case has taken on additional complexity amid a diplomatic rapprochement between Brussels and Rabat. In April 2024, Belgian authorities decided not to prosecute Moroccan suspects in the Qatargate case — a decision that raised questions about political interference in the investigation. Moroccan DGED officer Mohamed Belharache and diplomat Abderrahim Atmoun remain suspected by Belgian authorities of running a corruption and interference network within the European Parliament.
What Comes Next
The attempted murder investigation in Liège will be closely watched for any connection to the Qatargate probe. If a link is established, it would represent a dramatic escalation — moving from digital surveillance and harassment to physical violence against investigators.
The attack also raises urgent questions about the safety of the remaining Qatargate investigators, the adequacy of security measures within the federal police, and whether the Belgian parliament will launch an inquiry into the security failures documented by La Libre. For now, the victim remains on medical leave, the investigation continues, and the shadow of foreign intelligence operations looms over one of Belgium’s most consequential corruption cases.