When Belgian police stormed Huawei’s Brussels office in March 2025, detaining several people as part of a major corruption probe, few could have anticipated just how badly this operation would reflect on the European Union’s anti-corruption system. The raids led to the arrest of four lawmakers accused of accepting bribes, lavish gifts, and cash in exchange for political favors from a Huawei lobbyist. The revelations shocked Brussels, not only because of the scope of the alleged corruption but also because the EU’s anti-corruption watchdog, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), had been tipped off two years earlier-only to dismiss the claims after little more than a few web searches.

The failure now raises pressing questions about how seriously the EU is willing to confront corruption within its own institutions, and whether OLAF is fit for purpose.

The saga began in 2023, when Transparency International EU’s then-director Michiel van Hulten forwarded OLAF a tip-off from an anonymous whistleblower. The allegations were highly specific: a former Huawei lobbyist, later identified as Valerio Ottati, was suspected of bribing Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

Rather than opening a deeper probe, OLAF investigators limited their fact-finding to online searches. According to internal documents later obtained by Follow the Money, their investigation consisted of scanning media outlets, the European Parliament’s website, and the personal pages of MEPs. Unsurprisingly, they found no evidence of corruption.

“The allegations of corruption appear unsubstantiated,” the investigators concluded. The case was closed with the claim that there was “insufficient suspicion” of wrongdoing.

It was a decision that, in hindsight, looks nothing short of negligent. By March 2025, Belgian authorities had gathered enough evidence to carry out raids, seize documents, and arrest suspects. Ottati, the very man fingered in the whistleblower’s tip, reportedly confessed to bribing lawmakers.

The handling of the Huawei case has revived long-standing concerns about OLAF’s methods and mandate. While tasked with investigating fraud and corruption affecting the EU budget and institutions, OLAF does not have prosecutorial powers. Instead, it........

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