Belgian prosecutors arrested suspects in Huawei Bribery P …

Brusels (AP) – Belgian federal prosecutors announced on Thursday the arrest of several people in a corruption probe related to The European Parliament and Chinese company Huawei, which is suspected of bribing EU MPs.

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

The prosecutor confirmed in a statement that the alleged bribe “is said to have benefited Huawei”.

About 100 federal police officers performed 21 searches in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia and Portugal regions. The investigative magistrate responsible for the case also asked to be placed the seals on the EU Parliament offices allocated two assistants who are supposed to be involved.

Prosecutors said a person was arrested in France.

The suspects would be questioned about “the alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for the falsification and use of forgeries,” prosecutors said. “It is assumed that the crimes were committed by a criminal organization.”

The company stated in a statement that “Huawei takes these accusations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigation to continue to understand the situation.”

“Huawei has a zero tolerance policy or other crimes and we have committed to comply with all the laws and regulations applicable at any time,” he added.

The European Parliament has only stated that the assembly “takes note of information” and “always cooperates with the judicial authorities”.

Huawei, making mobile phones and is the largest network of network equipment for phone and internet carriers, has been caught Tensions between the United States and China on technology and trade.

Some European nations followed the leadership of Washington and forbade Huawei’s equipment from the next generation mobile networks, for statements that they present a security risk that could help facilitate Chinese espionage. The company has repeatedly denied this.

The spokesman of the European Commission, Thomas Requenier, said that the EU executive branch has no comment on the investigation, but stressed the commission’s security issues and mobile networks in the fifth generation in Europe.

“The security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial to our economy,” the registration told reporters. “Huawei represents significantly higher risks than other 5G suppliers.”

EU Member States should quickly adopt restriction or exclusion decisions of Huawei from their 5G networks, “said Requenier. “The lack of rapid action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk.”

The prosecutor said he considers that there is corruption “from 2021 to this day” in different forms, “such as remuneration for taking over political positions or excessive gifts, such as food and regular travel or guests in football matches.”

Prosecutors also believe that payments could have been disguised in business expenses and, in some cases, could have been directed to third parties. They said they would also seek “to detect any evidence of money laundering.”

The police confiscated several documents and objects during the search. The staff at Huawei’s offices in Brussels refused to comment and extinguished the lights inside to avoid the photos taken through the window.

This is the second case of corruption concerning the EU Parliament in less than three years.

In December 2022, the legislator was shaken by a Corruption scandal in which Qatari officials They were accused of bribing EU officials to reduce labor rights before the World Football Cup.

The scandal hoped the reputation of the only institution in the EU, made up of officials directly elected in the 27 member countries. It undermined the assertion of the assembly on moral land in their own investigations, such as in accusations of corruption in Hungary of the member country.

Daniel Freund, the EU parliamentarian, who supervised the activity of the ethics body during the scandal, nicknamed Qatatgate – said on Thursday that Parliament’s reputation is threatened again.

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

According to Follow The Money, a investigative journalism platform, one of the main suspects in the well is Valerio Ottati, 41, a Belgian-Italian lobbyist joined in Huawei in 2019.

Before becoming the EU’s public business director of Huawei, Ottati was assistant to two Italian MEP who were both members of a European Parliament group dealing with China’s policy, the money reported.

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Petrequin reported from Paris. This report contributed to the writers Associated Press Lorne Cook in Brussels and Kelvin Chan.