‘Center right’ Belgian politician’s Kazakhstan financial scandal

This French TV video says about itself:

IN THE PAPERS: FRENCH PRESS – Weds. 08.10.2014: Nicolas Sarkozy is back in the press for more legal woes that could thwart his political comeback. Le Monde reveals a new scandal dubbed “Kazakhgate” which involves allegations of illegal kickbacks from the sale of 45 helicopters to Kazakhstan in 2010, during Sarkozy’s time as president.

The Kazakhgate scandal is about corruption in buying oil from, and selling French Eurocopter EC145 military helicopters to, the dictatorship in Kazakhstan.

Nicolas Sarkozy is usually referred to in the corporate media as a ‘center right’ politician (though he has tendencies towards the far right).

The Kazakhgate scandal involves not only French ‘center right’ politicians. Also Belgian ones (and United States businessmen).

On the same day when a Belgian ‘center left’ politician is in a far-right scandal, ‘center right’ Armand De Decker is once again in the news because of the Kazakhgate affair.

Armand De Decker is a very prominent member of the French speaking pro-Big Business MR. That sister party of the British Liberal Democrats is the party of Belgian Prime Minister Michel.

Translated from Belgian daily De Standaard today:

Armand De Decker suspected of corruption in Kazakhgate scandal.

Minister of State and former Senate chairman Armand De Decker (MR) has been declared to be a suspect by the court in Mons for ‘unauthorized influence’ in the Kazakhgate case. Legal sources confirm that to De Standaard.

An investigating magistrate in Mons thinks there is enough evidence that Senator Armand De Decker (MR) did unlawful political lobbying in 2011 and 2012 to have the law on the extended amicable settlement approved in a way favourable to [London-based] billionaire Patokh Chodiev and two of his business partners. De Decker received 740,000 euros from Chodiev and his cronies for his services. The former senator himself maintains until today that he only worked as a lawyer for Chodiev in the Kazakhgate case and that the 740,000 euros were his lawyer’s fees. But he did not succeed in convincing the investigators of that.