STRASBOURG — The Belgian prosecutor’s office admitted an EU lawmaker was wrongly accused of receiving payments from China as part of a corruption probe involving Chinese tech giant Huawei by mixing him up with a businessman with the same name.
Police wrongly accused Maltese MEP Daniel Attard of receiving “suspicious” amounts of money from bank accounts in China and Hong Kong, according to two people with knowledge of the content of a letter from the Belgian prosecutor, sent to the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee at the beginning of March.
In the letter, the prosecutor recognized that the Belgian financial transactions watchdog had committed an “error” by “mistaking” the identity of the bank account owner, according to the two people, who said the account actually belonged to a Maltese businessman with the same name. The allegation was part of the dossier sent by the prosecutor to the Parliament’s legal affairs committee, tasked with deciding whether to lift the immunity of the lawmaker.
The authorities’ confirmation of the mix-up came after a request by lawmakers for the Belgian prosecutor to double-check it had identified the right person, according to a third person with knowledge of the matter.
Businessman and lawyer Daniel Attard told POLITICO: “My practice includes advising international clients on residency related matters under Maltese law, which includes professional fees from clients in various jurisdictions. Those activities are entirely separate from the Huawei investigation and have no connection to the MEP Daniel Attard.”
“It is unfortunate that I am being drawn into a matter that has nothing to do with me simply because another person shares the same name,” he said, adding that Huawei has never been a client of his and he has never received funds from them. The businessman was once a mayor for the Maltese Labour Party, the same party that lawmaker Attard belongs to.
Attard, the lawyer, ran a business selling so-called golden passports — as media outlet Follow the Money reported — including to Chinese citizens, as part of a Maltese government scheme allowing foreign nationals to obtain residency rights by purchasing property or investing in the country. The government scheme was deemed illegal by the EU’s top court in April 2025.
MEP Attard told POLITICO: “Such situations can unfortunately occur and have indeed done so; including in Court proceedings in Malta where I have on several occasions been confused with another individual who bears the same name and who is also a warranted lawyer.”
“This underlines the importance of due process and of verifying facts carefully before reputations are put on the line,” the lawmaker said. “I will continue to fully cooperate with the European Parliament and with the competent authorities until this matter is concluded once and for all, and I hope it will now proceed without any further undue delay.”
Second controversy
The identity mix-up marks the latest chapter in a saga that has raised concerns about China’s reach in European politics and the vulnerability of EU lawmakers to bribery and covert lobbying.
Investigators are probing allegations of “active corruption within the European Parliament,” Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said in March 2025, later adding that “the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei,” the Chinese tech giant. The allegations follow an investigation that included wiretapping an executive VIP box in the RSC Anderlecht stadium, POLITICO revealed. Huawei said in a previous statement that it “maintains a zero-tolerance stance against corruption. As always, we are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”
The case has been plagued by controversy from the outset. Weeks after the scandal broke, Belgian prosecutors demanded that the Parliament lift the immunity of five lawmakers, including Attard. Only hours later, the prosecutors withdrew their request to lift the immunity of Italian MEP Giusi Princi after realizing she was not yet elected as a lawmaker at the time of the alleged wrongdoing.
“I will not accept the targeting and tarnishing of MEPs without a solid basis,” said Parliament President Roberta Metsola following the incident.
Some lawmakers have questioned the reliability of Belgian prosecutors, arguing that the authority publicly probing MEPs before gathering sufficient evidence risks ruining the subject’s professional reputation.
“There is a general dissatisfaction about the quality of the work of the Belgian prosecution,” said one of the people familiar with the Attard letter.
Belgian federal justice workers complained in October 2025 that the system is underfunded and at a “breaking point,” the Brussels Times reported.
The European Parliament press service said it does not comment on ongoing immunity procedures. The Belgian prosecutor’s office did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Belgian authorities mixed up EU lawmaker with namesake in Huawei bribery probe
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