Belgian police carried out 21 searches Thursday in Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia and Portugal as part of a corruption investigation involving alleged bribes to European Parliament members linked to Huawei, authorities said.
Federal prosecutors said several individuals were arrested for questioning over alleged corruption, forgery and money laundering tied to a criminal organization. The alleged bribery, which began in 2021, reportedly involved payments for political favors and excessive gifts such as luxury travel, meals and football tickets under the guise of lobbying.
Later Thursday, a suspect was arrested in France under a European arrest warrant. The investigating judge has ordered seals to be placed on two parliamentary offices connected to the case. The President of the European Parliament has been informed, officials said.
Authorities said financial benefits from the alleged corruption may have been disguised as conference expenses and routed through intermediaries to conceal their illicit nature. Documents and objects seized during the raids are being analyzed.
The investigation is ongoing, and no additional details have been released due to the presumption of innocence, prosecutors said.
Media reports said that the investigation, among others, targeted Huawei lobbyist Valerio Ottati. He joined Huawei six years ago, after working on the European Parliament’s China dossier as an Italian member of the European Parliament (MEP), according to reports.
The probe began two years ago after a tip from Belgian intelligence, focusing on some 15 former and current MEPs.
No searches have been conducted at the European Parliament, and prosecutors have not requested immunity waivers. However, the scandal could damage the institution’s reputation, especially after the 2022 Qatargate case, where MEPs took bribes from Qatar.