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Belgian police have raided the offices of Huawei as part of a sprawling probe into alleged corruption involving members of the European parliament.
An official briefed on the investigation told the Financial Times the Chinese technology company was the target of the probe initiated by Belgian intelligence services.
The federal prosecutor’s office said on Thursday that more than 100 police officers had searched 21 premises and several individuals were taken in for questioning “in connection with their alleged involvement in active corruption within the European parliament”.
They were also suspected of engaging in forgery and constituting a “criminal organisation” as far back as 2021 “under the guise of commercial lobbying”, the prosecutor’s office said. Raids were also carried out in Portugal.
The alleged crimes involved paying EU lawmakers for political statements, and “excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches”. The payments were allegedly hidden using conference expenses and “various intermediaries, with a view to concealing their illicit nature or enabling the perpetrators to escape the consequences of their actions”.
The aim was to influence EU policy in favour of “commercial interests” and might have also involved money laundering, the prosecutor’s office said, without naming Huawei.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Belgian media and the investigative outlet Follow the Money were first to report Huawei was targeted by the probe.
None of those arrested have been named, but two people familiar with the case said they included former MEPs.
A European parliament spokesperson said: “We have received a request for co-operation from the Belgian authorities to assist the investigation, which the Parliament will swiftly and fully honour.”
Parliamentary officials say there were no raids on its premises and no request yet to lift the immunity of any members.
The investigation puts further pressure on the EU’s only directly elected body after police in 2022 arrested parliament vice-president Eva Kaili and other MEPs and parliamentary assistants in an alleged corruption probe, where Qatar and other countries were suspected of having bribed EU lawmakers to get favourable statements and decisions.
Kaili, her partner Francesco Giorgi and former MEP Antonio Panzeri were among those charged with corruption, money laundering and being part of a criminal enterprise. But legal issues have dogged the case and no one has yet been tried.
Prosecutors have continued their probe and in January also charged former MEP Maria Arena, who did not run for re-election in 2024.
All deny wrongdoing.
