Dozens of police officers launched raids in Belgium and Portugal last month, initially charging five people. Two have since been released under conditions, while the other three have been fitted with electronic tags.

Now the federal prosecutor's office has said three more suspects were charged between March 20 and 29, and they remain in prison.

Their charges include active corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation, it said, giving no details about the suspects' identities.

The total includes three suspects arrested overseas who were handed over to Belgian authorities late last month, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office told AFP.

Investigators are looking into possible embezzlement or gifts offered by Huawei representatives or lobbyists to members of the parliament to defend its interests in the deployment of 5G telecommunications technology.

Belgian prosecutors said the alleged corruption dated from 2021 to the present.

The Huawei investigation came two years after the "Qatargate" scandal, in which EU lawmakers were accused of being paid to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco -- something both countries deny.