BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian federal prosecutors announced Thursday the arrests of several people as part of a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU lawmakers.
About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
The suspects were arrested for questioning in “connection with their alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries,” prosecutors said. “The offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organization.”
According to an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media, lobbyists working for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei are suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the company’s commercial policy in Europe.
Huawei public relations representatives in London did not respond to an emailed request for comment and could not be reached by phone.
The European Parliament said only that the assembly “takes note of the information" and when requested, "always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities.”
Huawei, which makes cellphones and is the biggest maker of networking gear for phone and internet carriers, has been caught in tensions between the United States and China over technology and trade.
Some European nations have followed Washington’s lead and banned Huawei’s equipment from next-generation mobile networks over allegations that it poses a security risk that could help facilitate Chinese spying. The company has repeatedly denied this.
European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the EU’s executive branch had no comment regarding the investigation but underlined security concerns the commission has about Huawei and Europe’s 5G telecoms networks.
“The security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial for our economy,” Regnier told reporters.
“Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers,” he said, adding that EU member states should swiftly "adopt decisions to restrict or to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks.”
“A lack of swift action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk,” Regnier said.
The federal prosecutor's office, which did not name Huawei, said it believes there was corruption “from 2021 to the present day" in various forms, "such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches."
Prosecutors believe payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. they would also look to "detect any evidence of money laundering.”
Police seized several documents and objects during the searches. Staff at Huawei’s offices in Brussels declined to comment and turned the lights off inside to avoid photographs taken through the window.
This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years.
In December 2022, the legislature was shaken by a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials were accused of bribing EU officials to play down labor rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup.
The scandal scarred the reputation of the EU’s only institution comprised of officials elected directly in the 27 member countries. It undermined the assembly’s claim to the moral high ground in its own investigations, such as into allegations of corruption in member country Hungary.
The impact of the scandal is still being felt, with the parliament due to rule soon on whether to lift the immunity of two more lawmakers who were implicated.
According to Follow The Money, an investigative journalism platform, one of the main suspects in the latest probe is 41-year-old Valerio Ottati, a Belgian-Italian lobbyist who joined Huawei in 2019.
Before becoming Huawei’s EU Public Affairs Director, Ottati was an assistant to two Italian MEPs who were both members of a European Parliament group dealing with China policy, Follow the Money reported.
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Petrequin reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
