Lisanne van Vucht

1 month ago | ftm.eu | Simon Van Dorpe |Alexander Fanta |Lisanne van Vucht

In the early hours of last Thursday, Belgium’s federal police raided Huawei’s EU office and the homes of lobbyists for the Chinese tech company on suspicions of bribery, forgery, money laundering and criminal organisation. Authorities suspect that Huawei lobbyists paid bribes to MEPs in return for backing their cause in the European Union, Follow the Money, Le Soir and Knack reported.

1 month ago | ftm.eu | Simon Van Dorpe |Lisanne van Vucht

Welcome to the newsletter of Follow the Money’s EU desk, with insights from our EU specialists, news from the Brussels bubble, and the latest on our investigations!This week: von der Leyen kept a critical letter on Israel policy secret for a year, a follow-up on the Huawei corruption scandal we broke last week, and the upcoming European Parliament debate on the EU ethics body – which now seems more relevant than ever.

1 month ago | ftm.eu | Simon Van Dorpe |Alexander Fanta |Lisanne van Vucht

Huawei has been accused in the past of unethical lobbying, and of having links to the Chinese government that could enable Beijing to spy on Western nations. In June 2021, an ex-Huawei employee went on trial accused of using the company as cover to spy for China. A few years later, in October 2024, accusations of a conflict of interest against Polish ex-deputy minister Jacek Tomczak caused political turmoil again.

1 month ago | ftm.nl | Alexander Fanta |Simon Van Dorpe |Lisanne van Vucht

Wat is het nieuws? Het Europees Parlement staat opnieuw centraal in een onderzoek naar corruptie. Donderdagochtend zijn op meerdere adressen huiszoekingen gedaan door de Belgische politie. Lobbyisten van het Chinese techbedrijf zouden Europarlementariërs hebben omgekocht voor een goed woordje voor Huawei’s belangen op de Europese markt. Het politieonderzoek begon ongeveer twee jaar geleden na een tip van de Belgische inlichtingendienst.

1 month ago | ftm.eu | Alexander Fanta |Simon Van Dorpe |Lisanne van Vucht

What is this story about? Huawei lobbyists in Brussels have allegedly bribed members of the European Parliament. Belgian police raided 21 addresses linked to the corruption probe this morning, people close to the investigation told Follow the Money and Belgian outlets Le Soir and Knack. The Belgian investigation, codenamed “Generation”, has been ongoing for over two years after a tip-off from Belgian intelligence.