HUAWEI EXEC RELEASED
Canadian held in China
• The Huawei Technologies executive whose arrest touched off an international furor was released on $10-million bail Tuesday in Vancouver.
Meng Wanzhou is required her to wear an ankle bracelet, surrender her passports, stay in Vancouver and its suburbs and confine herself to one of her two Vancouver homes from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke said he was satisfied Meng, a well-educated businesswomen with letters of reference, does not pose a flight risk.
The bail includes a cash deposit of $7 million and five or more sureties amounting to $3 million.
There was loud clapping in the public gallery after the judge read out his decision.
Meng smiled and gave a thumbs up to supporters in the gallery. Her husband, Liu Xiazong, who was seated behind her in the gallery, shook hands with several people.
Meng, the 46-year-old chief financial officer of Huawei and the daughter of its founder, is wanted in the United States on allegations that the Chinese telecom giant skirted trade sanctions against Iran. She was arrested en route to Mexico while changing planes in Vancouver on Dec. 1.
The U.S. has accused Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It also says that Meng and Huawei misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran. She has denied the allegations through her lawyer in court.
Ehrcke granted bail after her lawyers presented the court with four additional sureties amounting to more than $3 million.
The judge had earlier expressed concern that Meng’s husband, who was named as a surety and was willing to put up $15 million, was not appropriate as he did not live in Canada and was only here on a visitor’s visa.
David Martin, Meng’s lawyer, told the judge on Tuesday that one of the new sureties who came forward was a B.C. man who met Meng and her husband in 2009 and acted as their realtor when they purchased their two Vancouver homes.
He said the man was prepared to pledge his $1.8 million home and would report any breaches of bail.
“So this is a classic surety, my Lord,” said Martin.
The second surety, who has known Meng since the 1990s, was prepared to offer up $500,000 in equity of a home valued at $1.4 million.
The third surety, a homemaker who is also a Canadian citizen and knows Meng well, was prepared to pledge $850,000 in equity from her west side home valued at $6 million.
The last surety, a yoga instructor who lives near one of Meng’s homes in Vancouver, was ready to offer $50,000 cash bail.
The U.S. has 60 days after the arrest to put together an official request for extradition.
Canada’s justice minister must decide whether to approve the extradition.
Her arrest has sparked protests by the Chinese government, which says Meng committed no crime. She is the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, one of the world’s biggest makers of smartphones and networking equipment. The case has shaken global financial markets and threatened the fragile trade relationship between the U.S. and China.