Suspected corruption of MEPs by lobbyists who work for the Chinese giant of Huawei telecommunicationsat dawn a hundred agents of the Belgian Federal Police have led Searches in 21 addresses in Brussels, Flanders and Vallonia, but also in Portugalas part of an investigation conducted by the Federal Prosecutor of Brussels. The Belgian newspaper Le Soir reports it, the same one who, together with the Flemish periodical Knack, had revealed the investigations on the Qatarta.
The case had made a lot of noise a couple of years ago, and then deflated after the investigating judge, Michel Claise, had had to abandon the investigations after indirect family relationships had emerged with a euroded, Maria Arena, considered very close to Antonio Panzeri, whose name had emerged in the investigation, without being subject to consequences, unlike the very hard treatment inflicted on other suspects, such as the former vde of the European Parliament of Eva Eva. Kaili.
Several lobbyists, according to the Soir, would have been deprived of freedom to be questioned. The main suspect, according to the Belgian newspaper, would be Vo, an Italian-Belga who directs the public reports of Brusselsalready for ten years parliamentary assistant of two Italian MEPs, one of the PPE and the other of the’s & d. According to the Soir, the alleged corruption would have consisted of objects of some value, such as Huawei smartphones, tickets for the Anderlecht games (Huawei has a tribune to Lotto Park, the Belgian team stadium) and wire transfers for a few thousand euros, some of which would have passed through a Portuguese company. Corruption, at the alleged state, would have continued from 2021 to date. For the Belgian newspaper, about fifteen MEP, current and ex, none of which is Belgian would be involved. The purpose of the alleged corrupt activity of the Chinese giant lobbyists would have been to contrast Washington’s efforts to marginalize Huawei in the European market.
Office seals seats in the European Parliament Brussels
The Belgian investigating judge, after the searches made today, asked that the seals are placed on the offices assigned to two parliamentary assistants, who are presumed to be involved in the facts subject to investigation. This was communicated by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
As the procedure provides, the president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola has been informed of the situation: the procedure is “in progress”. In addition, the prosecutor’s office continues, a suspect was arrested in France, following a European arrest warrant issued against him.
As always in these cases, “further information, including personal data and/or any other element that allow the identification of the people involved can in no case be disclosed at this stage, in compliance with the presumption of innocence of the interested parties and the investigation itself”.
EU Parliament: “We always collaborate with judicial authorities”
The European Parliament “takes note” of the survey launched by the Federal Prosecutor of Brussels for suspect corruption of a few MEPs at the hands of lobbyists who would have acted on behalf of Huawei, in order to counter Washington’s efforts aimed at marginalizing the Chinese giant of the TLC in the EU. The classroom, “when requested, always collaborates with the judicial authorities”. This was stated by Parliament’s press service.