Eight individuals are facing charges for corruption, money laundering, and involvement in a criminal organization after an investigation into alleged bribery at the European Parliament, according to a statement from Belgium’s public prosecutor released on Friday.

The charges follow Belgian authorities’ announcement on March 13 about detaining several suspects over alleged bribery in the European Parliament reportedly benefiting China’s Huawei.

On March 13, Belgian investigators conducted searches at 21 locations throughout Belgium and Portugal, and as a result, a judge has ordered the sealing of the offices of two parliamentary aides.

Flags from the 27 countries of the EU fly in the wind in front of the European Parliament on April 5, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

The Belgian prosecutors said the alleged corruption had taken place “very discreetly” since 2021 under the guise of commercial lobbying and involved payments for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches.

Prosecutors have said the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei.

Huawei has said it takes the allegations seriously and would urgently communicate with authorities to fully understand the situation. It has also said it has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing.

The prosecutor’s office said on Friday that among the eight people charged, three were being kept under electronic surveillance, two have been released and three remain under arrest.

It gave no further information.

The European Parliament has said it had received a request from Belgian authorities to assist with the investigation, and that it would swiftly and fully comply with it.

At the end of 2022, the EU was rocked by the ‘Qatargate’ cash-for-influence scandal after Belgian authorities charged four people linked to the European Parliament on suspicions that Qatar and Morocco bribed politicians, parliamentary assistants and non-governmental organizations to influence decision-making in the EU assembly.

That investigation is still ongoing.