The Chinese telecommunications giant saw its Boulogne-Billancourt offices raided this week. And it is the national financial prosecutor’s office which is in charge.
Huawei has already had to deal with the suspicions of the authorities several times in recent years. But in general, the telecommunications giant was rather accused of facilitating Chinese espionage through its networks, which notably led to the passing of a law on infrastructure in 2019, nicknamed “anti-Huawei law”. But today, the mistrust is of another order.
Breaches of integrity at Huawei?
The headquarters of Huawei France, located in Boulogne-Billancourt, was the subject of a search this Thursday, February 8, according to a judicial source from theFrance Media Agency. Led by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, this operation aims to substantiate the suspicions of the magistrates of this unit specializing in serious economic and financial crime.
Huawei could in fact be guilty of “breach of probity”, a legal group which brings together various offenses such as influence peddling, illegal taking of interest or corruption. Details of the charges have not yet been released.
Already an investigation in progress
An indication was still given by the same source. This search has no connection with the preliminary investigation by the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office reported by Challenges magazine in 2022. An investigation then entrusted to the Paris financial brigade, and which began in 2021 with a report from the Agency French anti-corruption law (AFA) relating to potential abuse of corporate assets and tax fraud.
Not enough to improve the image of Huawei which, although it can no longer operate on the American market at all, is still present on the territory of the European Union. And the Shenzhen firm still has hopes, given the construction of a factory in Alsace, which is the first of the group to see the light of day outside China. Could this new file be a pitfall to his ambition?
Source : The world
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