Five people charged in corruption probe linked to Huawei

Five people have been charged in a corruption probe linked to Chinese company Huawei, which has been suspected by Belgian prosecutors of bribing EU lawmakers.

The Belgian Public Prosecutor’s office confirmed on Tuesday that four people have been charged with “active corruption and criminal organisation,” while a fifth person was charged with money laundering.

The latter was released under conditions, but the other four were placed under an arrest warrant.

The Public Prosecutor added that new searches took place on Monday at the offices of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Two offices were previously sealed off on 13 March, one belonging to the assistants of Marco Falcone (Italy/EPP), Paolo Campisi and Francesco Vasta, and the other to Adam Mouchtar, assistant to Nikola Minchev (Bulgaria/Renew Europe). 

Police had also already search Huawei’s headquarters in Brussels, as well as 21 homes in Brussels, the Belgian regions of Flanders and Wallonia, and Portugal.

A day later, on 14 March, the European Parliament temporarily banned Huawei lobbyists from its premises, a move it stated was taken as a precautionary measure, in line with it security rules.

The arrests came after an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media revealed that 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.

Huawei said Thursday it is taking the allegations seriously and that it would “urgently communicate” with investigators.

The prosecutor’s office said it believes corruption started in 2021.