Giovanni Kessler is an Italian prosecutor. He was until 2017 the Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office. OLAF is a department of the European Commission, but it is independent in its investigative function. Based in Brussels, OLAF is tasked with protecting the financial interests of the European Union by investigating fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities. It also investigates serious matters relating to the discharge of professional duties by members and staff of the EU institutions and it supports the EU institutions, in particular the European Commission, in the development and implementation of anti-fraud legislation and policies.
In 2010, Kessler was nominated for the post of Director-General of OLAF, the Anti-Fraud office of the European Union. In late 2010, the European Parliament voted narrowly to put Kessler ahead of Thierry Cretin, an OLAF director. Later, the Council of the European Union decided that Kessler and Johan Denolf, from the anti-fraud unit of the Belgian judicial police, were their top two. Kessler took office in February 2011 and soon became engaged in a comprehensive reform process to strengthen the efficiency of OLAF, aiming to step-up the fight against fraud and corruption in Europe. In 2012, he was elected President of the European Partners Against Corruption / European Anti-Corruption Network, a formal network comprising close to fifty anti-corruption authorities from European Union Member States. The Network was set up to improve cooperation between authorities mandated with the fight against corruption in the European Union, as well as to foster closer relations between Member States and the European institutions. Upon taking office, Kessler led the investigation into the 2011 cash for influence scandal in the European Parliament. During that time, OLAF was working closely with national authorities from Austria, Slovenia, Romania, Spain, Belgium and France; two MEPs – from Austria and Slovenia – resigned; a third was suspended by his party. From 2012, Kessler oversaw the investigation that led to John Dalli, the then European health commissioner, losing his job over accusations that he asked for cash from a tobacco company in exchange for opening up the EU market to that company’s products. That investigation also ensnared Kessler, with Belgian authorities starting an investigation into allegations that he had broken the law during OLAF’s probe into Dalli. The European Commission lifted his immunity, opening him up to prosecution, prompting Kessler to launch legal action. As of July 2017, both the Belgian investigation and the case about his immunity are ongoing. In 2013, he also became a Member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities. IAACA has more than three hundred organizational members which cover nearly all law enforcement national institutions and bodies entrusted with the task of fighting against corruption and more than two thousand individual members, including prosecutors, investigators and experts with experience in anti-corruption research or practice. In 2014, Kessler became a member of the commission on appointment of the new bureau chief of the Ukrainian anti-Corruption Bureau. In 2017, Marine Le Pen filed a lawsuit against OLAF and Kessler himself, charging that the anti-fraud office acted as a tool of President of the European ParliamentMartin Schulz to undermine her and her party.
Head of the Italian Customs and Monopoly Agency, 2017–present
In July 2017, Kessler was appointed as head of the Italian Customs and Monopoly Agency in Rome.
Member of the International Anti-corruption Advisory Board in Ukraine (IACAB), 2017–present
