A hundred Belgian federal police have registered on Thursday the offices of the headquarters of the Chinese technological giant Huawei in Brussels, as well as the addresses of several of their lobists, some of which remain detained, suspected of having participated in an alleged case of “active corruption in the European wall” that could involve a fortnight of Eurodiputs, both in exercise and old legislators. The case points to a possible new scandal at the European Legislative Headquarters two years after the shaking of the case Qatargatea plot of alleged bribes from countries such as Qatar or Morocco that involved several European legislators and continues until today in the hands of Belgian justice.
In total, 21 records have been produced both in Brussels, the Belgian capital, as in localities of Flanders and Valonia, to which an operation carried out in Portugal is added, as explained by the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office in a statement, confirming the information advanced by the Belgian media Soir and Knackas well as research websites Follow the Money and United reports. In addition, “several individuals” remain detained to be interrogated in relation to a case of “active corruption in the European Parliament”, as well as “falsification and use of counterfeit objects” within the framework of a “criminal organization”, adds the Prosecutor’s Office, which also analyzes whether there has been money laundering.
According to Soiramong the detainees is not, however, the main objective of the operation, the Public Relations Director of the Bruslense Office of Huawei, Valerio O., former parliamentary assistant for a decade of two former Italian MEPs, one conservative and another social democrat.
In the records they have been seized “several documents and objects” that will be “analyzed in depth,” the Prosecutor’s Office adds. The Belgian publication Knack He has reported that about 15 Eurodiputados are on the radar of the researchers, both current and the previous legislature. At the moment, however, the European Parliament has not received a petition for the registration of its offices or the homes of the deputies, a necessary step since legislators enjoy parliamentary immunity, according to sources of the European institution.
Nor does the Prosecutor’s Office indicate that the investigations have already extended to the Eurocamara or some of its members, although it makes it clear that parliamentarians were the objective of the practices of alleged corruption of the Lobistas de Huawei. During police actions for the Qatargateseveral Eurodiputed were arrested with large amounts of cash.
In this new case, corruption would have been practiced “regularly and very discreetly” from 2021 to the present. It would have been carried out “under the appearance of commercial pressure groups” —Brusel is, after Washington, the second largest worldwide lobbying, with more than 12,000 registered lobists (the non -registered could double the figure) and multi -million dollar budgets to make Lobi before the European institutions, especially in the Eurochamber Excessive such as food meals and expenses or periodic invitations to football matches, ”says the official prosecution statement.
The newspaper Soirwhich also quotes among the “gifts” high -end mobile phones of Huawei, remember that the Chinese company has a luxury box at the RSC Anderlecht Club Stadium. The objective, the Prosecutor’s Office continues, would have been “to promote purely private commercial interests in the context of political decisions.” The investigation also seeks to “detect possible elements of money laundering”, given that “the financial benefits linked to the alleged corruption may have mixed with financial flows linked to the payment of conferences expenses and have been paid to various intermediaries with a view to hiding their illegal nature or allowing the authors to avoid the consequences of their acts,” says the Prosecutor’s Office.
The Eurodiputados are currently in Strasbourg, since this Thursday culminates their plenary session at the French headquarters of the Eurocamara. During the Qatargatewhich exploded in December 2022, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, had to appeal when the agents asked to register the domicile of a Euro Belgian territory.
