Judge grants bail for Huawei executive wanted by U.S.
Chinese tech giant’s chief financial officer to return to court for extradition hearing on Feb. 6
The Huawei Technologies executive whose arrest touched off an international furor was ordered released on $10-million bail Tuesday in Vancouver.
On the third day of her bail hearing, B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke said Meng Wanzhou, 46, had met the legal burden necessary for her to be released from prison pending her extradition hearing.
There was loud clapping in the courtroom’s packed public gallery after the judge read out his decision.
The judge told Meng, the chief financial officer of the Chinese tech giant, that she must return to court on Feb. 6.
Meng, a mother of four, smiled and gave a thumbs up to supporters in the gallery. Her husband, Liu Xiaozong, who was seated behind her in the gallery, shook hands with several people.
Liu had been willing to act as a surety, backed by the couple’s two Vancouver homes valued at $14 million as well as a cash bail of $1 million.
But on Monday the judge questioned whether Liu, who is a Chinese citizen here in Canada on a six-month’s visitors visa, could be an appropriate surety.
Meng’s lawyers arrived in court Tuesday with a proposal for four more sureties — four Vancouver residents who knew Meng and were willing to put up a total of $3 million.
On Tuesday, the judge said it appeared that there was some uncertainty about the ability of a non-resident to act as a surety in Canada and noted that the four additional sureties had come forward.
He said that while no bail order can ever function as an absolute guarantee, he was satisfied that bail of $10 million was sufficient to address any risk that Meng might flee Canada. The bail will consist of $7 million in cash and five or more sureties totalling $3 million.
The judge said Meng was a “well-educated businesswoman” who has no criminal record and added that the flight risk can be reduced to an acceptable level by imposing that amount.
Meng must wear a GPS ankle bracelet, be subject to 24-hour surveillance, surrender any passports or travel documents and be under a curfew. Any travels will be restricted to Vancouver and Richmond and parts of the North Shore.
David Martin, Meng’s lawyer, declined to comment on the case. Liu was also not making himself available to discuss the case.
Huawei Technologies issued a brief statement, with a spokesman who was in court taking no questions from reporters. “We have every confidence that the Canadian and U.S. legal systems will reach a just conclusion in the following proceedings,” said the statement in an apparent reference to the upcoming extradition proceedings. “As we have stressed all along, Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries and regions where we operate, including export control and sanction laws of the UN, U.S.andE.U.”
Martin told the judge earlier on Tuesday that one of the suretieswasaB.C.manwho met Meng and her husband in 2009 and acted as their realtor when they bought their two Vancouver west side homes.
He said the man was prepared to pledge his $1.8 million home and would report any breaches of bail by Meng.
“So this is a classic surety, my Lord,” said Martin.
The second surety, who had known Meng since the 1990s, offered $500,000 of equity in a home valued at $1.4 million.
The last surety, a yoga instructor who lives close to one of Meng’s homes in Vancouver, offered $50,000 cash bail.
The main issue at the hearing, which began Friday following Meng’s arrest Dec. 1 in Vancouver, had been whether conditions could be crafted to ensure she doesn’t flee Canada and return to her home country of China.
Even after Meng is released from custody, she faces a long road ahead of her, as extradition cases can take months and, in some cases, even years to make their way through the B.C. courts.
The U.S., which wants to put Meng on trial on fraud charges after alleging she participated in a scheme to bypass U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, has 60 days after the arrest to put together an official request for extradition known as a record-of-the case.