Moroccan Spy ’M118’ Identified as Key Figure in European Parliament Corruption Scandal

His name is Mohamed Belareh, also known as "Belahrech" or "Belharace." His code name at the Directorate General of Studies and Documentation (DGED), Morocco’s intelligence services, is "M118," reports Politico. Well known to the Spanish and French services, "this man has been circling European intelligence agencies for years," reports Sud Info. In 2013, he and his wife had set up an espionage network in Barcelona, tasked with managing agents in mosques on behalf of the DGED, reveals El Confidential. This network was dismantled in 2015. His wife was suspected of money laundering through "Aya," a travel agency, reports El Mundo.

In 2016, Belareh’s name appeared in a spying case in Paris that erupted after the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015. Aided by a captain working at the border police at Orly and the director of a private security company working at the same airport, he "would have obtained up to 200 confidential files on terrorism suspects (S files) in France" illegally, reports Libération. The Moroccan agent offered the captain Charles D. nice gifts (trips to Morocco for him and his family), as well as money.

According to various media, it is this man from Rabat who gave the orders to the Moroccan ambassador to Poland, Abderrahim Atmoun, a friend of former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri, who has been deprived of his liberty since December 9.