Belgian prosecutors make arrests in a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament

People wait in line to visit the European Parliament during Europe Day celebrations in Brussels on May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Belgian federal prosecutors today (Thursday) announced the arrests of several people in a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament and the Chinese company Huawei, which is suspected of bribing EU lawmakers.

The arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media said lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant were suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the company’s commercial policies in Europe.

The prosecutor’s office confirmed in a statement that the alleged bribery “is said to have benefited Huawei.”

About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal. The investigating magistrate in charge of the case also asked for seals to be placed on offices inside the EU Parliament allocated to two parliamentary assistants allegedly involved.

Prosecutors said one person was arrested in France.

The suspects would be questioned over “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.”

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 “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 the commission’s security concerns about Huawei and Europe’s fifth-generation mobile phone 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.”

EU member states should swiftly “adopt decisions to restrict or to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks,” Regnier said. “A lack of swift action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk.”

The prosecutor’s office 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 also believe payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. They said 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.

EU Greens lawmaker Daniel Freund — who supervised the work of the assembly’s ethics body during the scandal, dubbed Qatargate — said Thursday the parliament’s reputation is again under threat.

“The risk of corruption in Brussels is high because the EU is so influential,” he said. “We need a complete investigation quickly, and finally reforms that will make the Parliament more resistant to corruption.”

According to Follow The Money, an investigative journalism platform, one of the main suspects in the 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.
MDT/AP