Mountie admits making error in Meng affidavit
Document used to secure arrest warrant said Huawei CFO had no ties to Canada
The Mountie who arrested Meng Wanzhou admits that he made a mistake in the affidavit that was used to get an arrest warrant for the Huawei executive.
RCMP Const. Winston Yep made the admission during his second day of cross-examination at the extradition hearing for Meng, who was taken into custody at the Vancouver airport in December 2018 because of banking-fraud charges in the U.S.
The officer testified that on the day before the arrest, he swore an affidavit that was presented to a B.C. Supreme Court judge to get a provisional arrest warrant for Meng, the chief financial officer of the Chinese tech giant who is being sought for extradition.
The affidavit said that Meng had no ties with Canada, which was not accurate as she owned two homes in Vancouver, one of which she is now residing in while on bail.
After Yep signed the affidavit, it was presented to Justice Margot Fleming in order to get a provisional arrest warrant for Meng.
Under questioning from Meng lawyer Richard Peck, Yep noted that it was the federal Crown who wrote up the affidavit, not himself, but that he had signed the document.
“Yes, it was an error on my part that she didn't have ties to Canada. I didn't write that in there,” Yep told B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes.
Peck pointed out that after he had signed the affidavit, Yep learned that in fact Meng had the two homes in Vancouver.
“At that moment, alarm bells are going off in your head, right?” said Peck. “You're concerned there's something wrong with your affidavit?”
“That did not cross my mind,” said Yep.
“My question is, did you take any steps to correct that important statement in the affidavit?” said Peck.
“No, because it didn't go through my mind. It didn't cross my mind,” said Yep.
Peck asked him if he was concerned with the truthfulness of his affidavit, a question resulting in a pause from Yep before he answered.
“Maybe I would have been concerned if I had recalled the exact content of the affidavit, but I did not recall the exact content of the affidavit.”
“You did not read the affidavit,” said Peck.
“Yes, I did read the affidavit,” said the officer.
Yep said there was a lot of information in the affidavit and the documents supporting it, but Peck said the information about Meng's ties to Canada was in a “critical piece” of the affidavit dealing with reasonable grounds to arrest her to prevent her from fleeing the jurisdiction.
“That's the keystone, the final piece in the affidavit,” said Peck.
Earlier Tuesday, Peck suggested that it would have been easy for RCMP to have arrested the Huawei executive as she was getting off her plane and thus ensure her charter rights were protected.
Yep had testified that after initially considering arresting Meng on the plane that she arrived on from Hong Kong, the Mounties decided to allow the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to intercept her first, with the RCMP executing the arrest warrant later. Peck asked Yep whether, instead of having CBSA intercepting Meng on the jetway, he could have easily arrested her as she stepped off the plane.
“No, I don't agree with that,” Yep told the judge. “We had discussions with the CBSA about arresting Ms. Meng. CBSA said YVR is their jurisdiction and we respect that.”
Meng is being sought for extradition on charges she committed banking fraud in relation to a scheme that allegedly circumvented U.S. sanctions in Iran. She has denied the charges.
Her lawyers are claiming that there was an abuse of process by authorities and a violation of her rights during the arrest. They want to have the extradition proceedings stayed.
Yep is expected to finish his testimony today.
Asked by Peck whether it would have been theoretically possible for RCMP to have arrested Meng on the plane, Yep said it would have been possible, but added that they still had to consider the safety of everyone.
Peck pointed out that Yep was armed along with two other RCMP officers who were with him, and that all three Mounties were wearing bulletproof vests.
“She comes off the plane, you take her, you frisk her for weapons,” said Peck.
“We assess the situation,” said Yep.
“You have to consider certain factors, location, passengers, officer safety, public safety.”
Peck told the witness that if Meng had been arrested after getting off the plane, before she was intercepted by CBSA, that she would have had her charter rights protected.
“That was not what we discussed,” said Yep.