Huawei allegedly 'benefited' from European Parliament bribery scheme

Several people have been arrested as part of a corruption investigation linked to the European Parliament and Huawei. The company is suspected of bribing European Union officials, according to the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the federal prosecutors' office in Belgium, where the European Parliament is located, said authorities are conducting "an ongoing investigation on preliminary charges of active corruption, forgery of documents, money laundering at the European Parliament." Prosecutors stated that "the offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organization" and were carried out to promote "purely private commercial interests in the context of political decisions."

"Corruption was allegedly practiced regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day, under the guise of commercial lobbying and taking various forms, such as compensation for political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses, or regular invitations to [soccer] matches," the office said in a statement. It later added that the "alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei."

Police raided several addresses in Belgium and Portugal, according to reports. Two European Parliament offices linked to two assistants who are allegedly involved in the case have been sealed.

Those arrested were being questioned over their alleged involvement "in active corruption within the European Parliament," prosecutors said. A spokesperson for the office told the BBC that no members of the parliament (MEPs) were directly targeted in these raids. However, reports suggest that around 15 current and former MEPs are "on the radar" of investigators.

Huawei said it would "urgently communicate with the investigation" to better understand the issue at hand, while the company is taking the allegations "seriously." A spokesperson told The Guardian that "Huawei has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times."

A European Parliament spokesperson said the legislative body had "received a request for cooperation from the Belgian authorities to assist the investigation which the Parliament will swiftly honor."

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