Five people were charged with a bribery investigation in the European Parliament, which is allegedly linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies.
The Belgian prosecutor's office said Tuesday that five people were detained in the attacks of more than 100 Belgian police on 21 addresses conducted last Thursday in Belgium and Portugal.
Now, four people have been arrested and charged with active corruption and involvement in criminal organizations, facing money laundering charges for the fifth time and have been released with conditions.
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Prosecutors' officials did not name the person concerned or provided identifiable information.
It said this was a new search in the European Parliament office. Reuters said the European Parliament did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
Huawei said last week that this was taken seriously and seriously.
“Huawei has zero competition policy for corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to always complying with all applicable laws and regulations,” it said last Friday.
Prosecutors said that since 2021, corruption has been said to have been “very cautious”, under the guise of business lobbying, involving payments to pay for certain political positions or excessive gifts, such as food and travel expenses or invitations to attend football games on a regular basis.
“The bribery allegedly benefited Huawei,” the prosecutor's office said last week.
Attack on the European Parliament
As the investigation progressed, the office used by two parliamentary aides was sealed and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was notified.
The prosecutor's office said lobbying is “promoting purely private business interests in the context of political decisions.”
Joint investigation of Brussels-based investigative news website Follow the moneyplus Belgium's Daily LE Soir and Dutch-Wednesday Knack were the first to report Huawei was the focus of the investigation.
“The Dawn Raid is part of a secret police investigation that began about two years ago after tips from the Belgian Secret Service,” the reporter said.
Following the money says police raided Huawei's EU offices, as well as its lobbyists' homes.
Police are looking for evidence that representatives of Chinese companies violated the law when lobbying for the European Parliament (MEPS). It says.
In the face of the pushback from Europe, European Parliament members may have provided “luxury trips, even cash to ensure support for the company”.
Sources said: “According to a source in the case, about 15 (formerly) European Parliament members are under investigation for current MPs.
European Parliament members want powerful actions against “foreign interference”
Huawei has faced counterattacks from Western countries for years, and the European Commission urges 27 EU member states to enter Delete the company's equipment from its telecom network due to security issues.
But about 14 European countries reportedly failed to comply with the recommendation.
A group of 35 EU lawmakers called on European technician Henna Virkunen on Wednesday Member States are required to exclude high-risk suppliers from 5G telecom infrastructure Police are following a probe on behalf of Huawei about suspected bribery of MEP.
They describe China's Huawei and ZTE as “high-risk suppliers.”
Virkkunen said she was not satisfied with the progress of replacing Huawei equipment late last year.
- Jim Pollard's Extra Input and Editing by Reuters
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