Antonio Quatraro

Antonio Quatraro (1934 – March 30, 1993) was an Italian European Commission official, who fell to his death from an EU office building on Rue de la Loi, Brussels.[1] At the time of his death, he was under investigation for taking bribes.[2] The cause of death (suicide or homicide) has never been determined. The incident marked the beginning of a long series of fraud cases within the EU system.

Personal life

Antonio Quatraro was born in 1934 in Cassano delle Murge, Italy. He studied economics and commerce at the University of Bari, followed by post-graduate work on international relations at the London School of Economics. In addition, he held degrees in political and diplomatic science at Université Libre de Bruxelles and in commercial and financial studies at the Institut Supérieur de Commerce Saint Louis.[1]

At the time of his death he was 59 years old.[3]

Career

An employee of the EU agricultural directorate, he headed the financial administration of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.[1]

In 1981 he was appointed head of the Tobacco Division,[1] putting him in charge of tobacco subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy.

A 1991 administrative enquiry report provided ground for suspecting him of malpractice, and disciplinary proceedings were initiated,[4] while the case was subjected to an internal investigation by the European Commission (UCLAF). The investigation was abandoned following his death in 1993.[4]

One contemporary news articles described him as "the mastermind in a massive tobacco payments racket".[5]

The European Commission prepared a report on the case, authored by Hans-Helmut Wachter.[4] Attempts by MEPs to obtain a copy of the report has been denied.[1]

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gollark: So, looks like if I use the deuterium from my H-H reactor and feed it into a D-D reactor I'll get much RF.
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References
  1. Mads Brügger, Mikael Bertelsen, Jeppe Rønde, Niels Borchert Holm (2009-05-10). "Quatraro Mysteriet, episode 2". Quatraro Mysteriet. Episode 2 (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. Archived from the original on 2009-05-16.
  2. "Douglas Watt Whistleblower Case". UNICORN. 2002. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  3. Lauritzen, Thomas (May 3, 2009). "Bertelsen og Brügger efterforsker EU-dødsfald". Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  4. "Written Question E-1991/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission" (PDF). Official Journal of the European Union. Publications Office (European Union). 2004-03-27. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  5. Doyle, Leonard (April 9, 1993). "Suicide exposes tobacco cash racket: EC official masterminded massive subsidy payments for unsaleable product". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  • Quatraro Mysteriet (in Danish) – Official homepage for the series that investigate the Quatraro case for Danmarks Radio
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