Europees Parlement schorst hoofd gebouwendienst wegens corruptie (en)

The European Parliament has suspended the head of its buildings directorate unit in Brussels, Pierre Parthoens, writes German magazine Stern.

The move comes because the Belgian top official did not inform the parliament that he is under investigation for corruption charges in his previous job.

The corruption case is now appearing in a Belgian court in the city of Liege, where Mr Parthoens faces a possible sentence of four years in prison.

He and 12 others stand accused of bribing Belgian officials in relation to the building of a highway tunnel.

Mr Parthoens is the main suspect in the case. He does not deny the charges, but claims to have acted on the order of his former - and now deceased - boss.

"I did not have the courage to say no," he said, according to Stern.

Mr Parthoens started working for the European Parliament in June 1993 as a project manager before finding employment as an official in 1998.

The name Pierre Parthoens has also popped up in relation to irregularities while he has been working for the EU.

The European anti-fraud office (OLAF) has twice shelved investigations involving the Belgian official, according to the German magazine.

A confidential note dated 31 January 2002 linked Mr Parthoens to possible exaggerated payments to companies involved in the building of a new domicile for the European Parliament in Brussels, writes Stern.

But OLAF chief Franz-Hermann Bruner decided to stop the case after a face-to-face meeting with Mr Parthoens, according to the magazine.

Mr Parthoens also came under the spotlight in March 2002 when financial controllers questioned a payment of €30,000 into his account. The official claimed the right to have the additional pay after moving his residence to Luxembourg.

The administrator responsible in the parliament said the payment was justified, even though Mr Parthoens had no more than 15 days of work in Luxembourg during one year.

Stern quoted from an internal note of the OLAF supervisory committee, according to which OLAF had conducted a "fake investigation" into the matter.