BRUSSELS — Authorities raided more than 20 addresses and sealed two offices in the European Parliament on Thursday, as part of a spiraling bribery probe into Chinese technology giant Huawei’s lobbying activities in Europe.
Authorities “have an ongoing investigation on preliminary charges of active corruption, forgery of documents, money laundering at the European Parliament,” a spokesperson for the Belgian Prosecutor’s office said. The “alleged bribery” would have benefited China’s Huawei, the office later added.
Police raided 21 addresses in Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia and in Portugal, arresting several people have been arrested, prosecutors said.
The European Parliament is already facing intense scrutiny over foreign states’ influence on EU decision-making in the Qatargate scandal that erupted in December 2022, when that nation was accused of having sought to influence Brussels and the European Parliament, in particular through bribes and gifts via intermediary organizations.
