Suspects Charged In Huawei EU Parliament Corruption Probe

Belgian authorities have charged five people in an investigation into alleged corruption in the European Parliament involving Chinese tech company Huawei, following arrests last week.

Belgian prosecutors also said new searches were carried out in the EU Parliament on Monday.

A Belgian judge on Tuesday charged four people with “active corruption and criminal organisation” and retained them in pre-trial detention, according to the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office.

Raids, arrests

A fifth person was released under conditions after being charged with money laundering.

Belgian police last week raided multiple locations in the country and detained people accused of being involved in a bribery scheme allegedly linked to promoting Huawei’s trade interests in the EU Parliament.

Prosecutors said the alleged bribery was carried out “under the guise of commercial lobbying”.

Some 21 premises in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia and one in Portugal were searched on Thursday morning, prosecutors said.

The offices of two parliamentary assistants were later sealed at the request of a judge, and a suspect was also arrested in France, prosecutors said.

Authorities said the alleged bribery was carried out “very discreetly” since 2021 and involved payments for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches.

“The alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Huawei said earlier it was taking the allegations “seriously” and would “urgently communicate with the investigation”.

Lobbying

It said in a statement that it had “a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times”.

Huawei has been under US sanctions since 2019, during the first presidential term of Donald Trump, and US authorities under Trump’s second term said this week that they are renewing a campaign to stop European telecoms firms from doing business with the Chinese company.

Based in Shenzhen, Huawei is the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment maker and is also a leader in technologies such as smartphones, tablets and PCs in its domestic market.

The company has also been expanding into areas such as advanced smartphone and AI chips as expanding US sanctions make Chinese tech firms become increasingly less able to access such components from Western suppliers.