Huawei offices raided in Belgium as part of EU corruption probe

Belgian police have carried out searches at Huawei's headquarters in Brussels and 20 other locations in the Flemish and Walloon provinces of Belgium, as well as in Portugal, leading to several arrests, Le Soir reports.

Belgian prosecutors have announced that they are investigating allegations of active corruption, document forgery and money laundering in the European Parliament, which likely benefited Huawei.

The investigation concerns Huawei lobbyists bribing MEPs to influence decisions in the European Parliament in favour of the Chinese company. The offices of two assistants involved in the case were closed during the operation. One of the main suspects is Valerio Ottati, 41, Huawei's director of public relations in the EU and a former assistant to two Italian MEPs who worked on EU policy towards China.

According to the source, Ottati had no experience in the technology sector and his appointment was due to his connections. The European Commission declined to comment on the investigation, but stressed that there are serious security risks associated with Huawei and its influence on European 5G networks.