A large-scale bribery investigation is underway in Belgium. Huawei is accused of bribing European Parliament members in exchange for favorable words.
Yesterday, 21 house searches took place in Belgium and Portugal as part of a large-scale investigation into bribery and corruption in the European Parliament. This was reported by various Belgian media and confirmed by the federal prosecutor’s office. The case is said to revolve around Huawei, which allegedly bribed members of parliament in exchange for favorable words in parliament.
Discreet and Regular
Huawei allegedly approached the parliament members and their staff with dinners, trips, tickets to football matches, and new phones. In return, the parliament members were expected to defend the company’s interests in the parliament. According to the prosecutor’s office, the events have been taking place since 2021 and everything happened ‘discreetly and very regularly,’ a spokesperson tells VRTNWS.
The gifts were paid for through intermediaries under the guise of conferences, including via a company based in Portugal. “All this with a view to promoting purely private commercial interests in the context of political decisions,” the prosecutor’s office further states.
According to sources from VRTNWS, about fifteen parliament members are on the investigators’ list, but their identities are unknown. We only know that no Belgian politicians are in the crosshairs. No house searches have been conducted at parliament members’ homes yet. The prosecutor’s office may request to lift the parliamentary immunity of the involved politicians at a later stage of the investigation.
Several individuals suspected of effectively cooperating in the bribery were arrested during this morning’s operation. The main target is a certain Valerio Otati, who has been handling public relations for Huawei since 2019 and was previously an employee of two parliament members.
Lobbying or Bribery
The investigation must determine whether Huawei has crossed the line between lobbying and bribery. Lobbying, influencing decision-making in favor of an organization, is not in itself a criminal activity. Huawei is registered as a lobbying organization. However, when parliament members receive money or other gifts to change their opinion, we are talking about bribery.
The company can do without any storm like a hole in the head. Since 2019, Huawei has been in the eye of the storm as the United States began accusing the company of espionage for the Chinese government, which has dealt significant blows to its activities in Europe. Several European countries, including Belgium, decided under American pressure to exclude Huawei from the 5G network.
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Huawei responds through the French press agency AFP that it maintains a ‘zero tolerance’ policy regarding corruption and bribery. “We take the accusations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigators to better understand the situation,” the statement reads.
Updated on March 14 at 8:30 AM with a response from Huawei.