Huawei bribery scandal: 8 people charged as Belgium asks European Parliament to lift MEP immunities

INTRO

• After a series of police raids on premises in Belgium, France, and Portugal, the Belgian prosecutor has charged at least eight people, including one of Huawei’s most senior executives in Europe, WITH corruption, money laundering, and criminal organisations
• https://www.politico.eu/article/huawei-corruption-probe-charges-money-laundering-criminal-organization-lobbying/
• https://www.politico.eu/article/huawei-top-executive-europe-charged-belgium-corruption-probe/
• An MEP’s parliamentary assistant has also been charged, but an Italian court refused to hand her over to Belgian authorities at the end of April despite an active European arrest warrant.
• https://www.lesoir.be/670702/article/2025-04-22/affaire-huawei-litalie-refuse-de-remettre-une-suspecte-la-belgique

LONG READ

1. Belgian authorities have asked the European Parliament to strip the immunities of a group of EU lawmakers so they can be investigated for their alleged involvement in a cash-for-influence scandal linked to the Chinese tech firm Huawei.
2. The request, confirmed by four EU officials, comes two months after the allegations emerged. Two officials said five MEPs were affected:
1. three from the centre-right European People's Party,
2. one from the Socialists and
3. One from the centrist Renew group.
3. While Parliament has not confirmed the full list of names, Maltese Socialist MEP Daniel Attard and Bulgarian Renew lawmaker Nikola Minchev publicly said that they are being investigated.
4. Parliament President Roberta Metsola will announce the complete list of MEPs in question on Wednesday at the opening of a plenary session.
5. One official said the authorities were also investigating some Parliament staff.
6. The Parliament's legal affairs committee will decide whether to strip the immunities, in a process that could take as little as four weeks if fast-tracked, or up to a year in sensitive cases.
7. Attard said on social media on Monday
1. He was being investigated in connection with the Huawei probe for attending a football match in September at the box that Huawei has in the Anderlecht football stadium in Brussels.
2. "I was not made aware that the invitation originated from any company, or that it involved a corporate box,"
3.  "It has since emerged that the invitation came from a person currently under investigation by the Belgian authorities and who intended to speak to me about Huawei during the match."
8. Attard said that following a subsequent meeting in the Parliament with the company's representatives, which he says he declared,
1. He "had no further communication and took no action whatsoever about Huawei or any matters related to the company."
9. Minchev is also under investigation for visiting Huawei’s box at an Anderlecht football match.
1. “My presence at that event is now a reason for the authorities to want to investigate whether there was anything wrong with it,” he said in comments to Bulgarian media, stating his innocence and vowing to collaborate with the authorities.
10. The offices of Minchev’s assistant, Adam Mouchtar, were raided by police in mid-March.
11. Authorities are also investigating eight MEPs who signed a letter sent in February 2021 to three European commissioners arguing that geopolitical tension should not hinder the development of 5G equipment in Europe. This move would benefit the Chinese tech giant. Belgian authorities are investigating whether these lawmakers have been paid for their signatures.
12. It is unclear whether the waiver requests target these lawmakers.
13. The Belgian prosecutor has charged at least eight people, including one of Huawei’s most senior executives in Europe, with active corruption, money laundering, and criminal organisation after a series of police raids of premises in Belgium, France, and Portugal.
14. A MEP’s parliamentary assistant has also been charged. However, an Italian court refused to hand her over to Belgian authorities at the end of April despite an active European arrest warrant.
15. A request to lift a lawmaker's immunity does not necessarily mean wrongdoing, but the police must be able to summon them for official questioning and investigate them.
16. The Belgian prosecutor's office declined to comment. A Parliament spokesperson said:
1. "Any request is only public once announced in plenary - the requests are announced at the earliest plenary after reception."

SOURCE

1.  https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-european-parliament-mep-immunity-huawei-corruption-scandal/
2. Elisa Braun contributed reporting. This story clarifies that eight MEPs are being investigated for the letter on 5G equipment in Europe.