Lobbyists, MEPs and European parliamentary assistants are under investigation by Belgian authorities for allegedly accepting gifts in exchange for promoting the vendor’s interests
Politico and Follow the Money report that Belgian prosecutors are investigating whether Huawei made illegal payments to the eight Members of the European parliament (MEPs) who signed an open letter sent to three European Commissioners in January 2021.
In the letter, the signatories argued against what they called the “politicisation of the deployment of 5G technology” and described security concerns “unsubstantiated fear of national security risks”. Huawei is not mentioned specifically.
Follow the Money says it is now suspected that illegal payment for the letter ran to “tens of thousands of euros”.
The letter was sent as an apparent protest against the banning of Huawei’s equipment in 5G networks by some governments across Europe and the wider world due to concerns about security. The anti-Huawei initiative, which included other Chinese tech firms like ZTE, was championed by the first Trump presidency.
A whistleblower alerted Transparency International, a non-governmental organisation, in 2021 claiming the signatories or their staff had been bribed for signing and sending the correspondence.
Expanding investigation
The investigation into possible corruption by members of the European parliament began earlier this month, triggered by Belgium’s intelligence services. The initial probe included a raid on Huawei’s offices in Brussels. Overall, more than 100 police officers searched 21 buildings. There have been suggestions that the alleged activity was sanctioned by top management at Huawei in Brussels.
Individuals were questioned about alleged bribes from Huawei like smartphones, several thousand euros and frequent tickets for football matches. The alleged payments were apparently disguised in travel expenses or the alleged bribes involved a number of intermediaries to hide their origin.
The Belgian police arrested five people, four on charges including corruption and being members of a criminal organisation. A fifth was arrested about money laundering but has since been released. Raids were also carried out in Portugal and a person was arrested in France.
Not a good precedent
The current Huawei scandal is not the first incidence of allegations of bribery, corruption and criminal enterprise.
In 2022, Eva Kaili, other MEPs and parliamentary assistants were investigated due to suspicions that Qatar and other countries had bribed EU legislators to cast a favourable light on them and make decisions in their favour.
The investigation has been engulfed in legal wrangling and no-one has yet been brought to trial regarding the accusations of money laundering, corruption and participating in a criminal enterprise. In January investigators arrested the former MEP Maria Arena as part of this investigation.
All the accused deny all of the charges.
