Belgian law enforcement authorities have launched a major corruption investigation into the Chinese tech company Huawei.
Police officers raided 21 houses of the company’s lobbyists in Belgium and Portugal on March 13th.
They are suspected of paying bribes to at least 15 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to represent Huawei’s interests in return. They are also being accused of money laundering, forgery, and participation in a criminal organization.
Huawei allegedly offered soccer tickets, trips to China, gifts, and possibly cash in exchange for political support for Huawei. Payments to MEPs were supposedly facilitated by a Portuguese company. The Public Prosecutor suspects that bribes were intertwined with conference expenses and paid via various intermediaries.
At this time, no searches have been conducted at the European Parliament. Investigation into current MEPs can’t be handled because of their immunity. Anonymous sources close to the investigation have told Follow The Money and Reporters United that the Public Prosecutor hasn’t made requests yet to temporarily lift the MEPs’ immunity.
Tensions between Huawei, the United States, and numerous European countries have existed for years. Political leaders and security experts have accused Huawei of having close ties with the Chinese government. They also say that Huawei is able to collect sensitive information through its network equipment and that Beijing can force the company to hand over this data.
Numerous countries, including Australia, France, India, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Sweden, are reluctant to use Huawei's network equipment out of fear of economic and digital espionage.
Huawei has always strongly denied these allegations.
“The allegations are simply not true and, as with similar assertions in the past, are not backed by evidence. Huawei is independent from any government, including the Chinese government,” the tech company has told news outlets numerous times in the past.
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