Despite Record of High-Profile Bribery, Qatar to Host Upcoming Anti-Corruption Conference

Qatar, the Gulf emirate tangled up in several high-profile corruption cases, is hosting an international anti-corruption conference from November 26-27. Representatives from more than 50 governments and international bodies will descend on Doha for the second Ministerial Meeting of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The biennial summit aims to improve collaboration among law enforcement agencies in the fight against corruption. The European Union (EU), UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and Interpol are among the organizations reportedly sending delegations.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia — the host of the 2022 OIC Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities summit — are expected to sign the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Convention at next week’s gathering. The convention, which OIC member states adopted as a resolution at the 2022 summit, enshrines the OIC’s commitment to combatting corruption. Whether the commitment leads to any changes in conduct remains to be seen.

Europe’s ‘Qatargate’ Scandal

In December 2022, Belgian police raided dozens of locations across Brussels, where the European Union is headquartered, arresting a half dozen EU officials and seizing more than $1.5 million in cash. The city-wide sweep exposed a Qatari cash-for-influence scheme at the heart of the European Parliament. Leaked documents show how Doha paid European officials to scrub Qatar’s image and shield the emirate from scrutiny. In one example, parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi noted that all copies of a book criticizing Qatar that could be found in the Parliament offices had been “destroyed.”

Qatar Named in Corruption Schemes Involving U.S. Senator, Defense Contractor

Federal prosecutors issued a superseding indictment in January alleging that Senator Robert Menendez — the once influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — accepted bribes in exchange for using his “influence and power and breach his official duty to benefit the Government of Qatar” and “to assist” a New Jersey real estate developer in securing an investment from a Qatari firm “by taking action favorable to the Government of Qatar.” Menendez resigned from the Senate in August after a jury found him guilty on 16 counts that included bribery and extortion.

Qatar is also on the receiving end of bribery schemes. In October, U.S. defense contractor Raytheon Company agreed to pay over $950 million to settle criminal allegations that it defrauded the U.S. government and attempted to “win business through bribery in Qatar.” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace explained that “over the course of several years, Raytheon employees bribed a high-level Qatari military official to obtain lucrative defense contracts and concealed the bribe payments by falsifying documents to the government.”

Qatar to Host UN Anti-Corruption Conference in December 2025

Qatar is slated to host the 11th session of the Conference of State Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption from December 14 to December 19, 2025. The United Nations describes CoSP as “the main decision-making body” of the UN Convention against Corruption, tasked with supporting “parties and signatories in their implementation of the Convention” and providing “policy guidance” to the UN Office of Drugs and Crime.

The United States must make clear to Qatar that hosting multiple anti-corruption conferences cannot be just an exercise in virtue signaling. Ahead of CoSP11, Washington should redouble efforts to hold Qatar — a country designated under Joe Biden as a Major Non-NATO Ally — accountable for its public commitment to the fight against global corruption.

Natalie Ecanow is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Natalie and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Natalie on X @NatalieEcanow. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.