Evidence heard of alleged Huawei fraud
MONTREAL: United States officials are seeking to extradite Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou over fraud offences relating to allegations the company breached US sanctions on Iran, Canadian prosecutors told a bail hearing in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday.
Meng (46), who is also deputy chairwoman of the telecommunications giant’s board and the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Vancouver on Saturday at the request of US authorities while she was transiting from Hong Kong heading to Mexico.
Meng faces charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions, which carry a possible sentence of up to 30 years’ jail for each charge, the court heard.
John GibbCarsley, representing Canada’s attorneygeneral, told the court the allegations of fraud were related to an investigation into SkyCom, a Hong Kongbased company that allegedly entered into business dealings with Iran’s largest mobilephone operator between 2009 and 2014 despite an EU and US embargo.
GibbCarsley said SkyCom was a subsidiary of Huawei, not a separate company as claimed by the Chinese telecom giant, and that Huawei attempted to hide its true relationship with SkyCom and the company’s ties with the Iranian telecom provider.
Meng had allegedly denied the link between Huawei and SkyCom when questioned by US banks, tricking them into making transactions that violated US sanctions on Iran, GibbCarsley said.
‘‘This is the alleged fraud,’’ he said.
GibbCarsley urged the court to deny Meng bail, saying she had vast resources at her disposal and would likely flee to China, which has no extradition treaty with the US
Meng’s defence lawyer, David Martin, said wealth should not preclude anyone from getting bail.
Martin said that given her prominent status, Meng would not embarrass her father, the company or China by breaching any bail conditions.
However, no decision was reached and the case was adjourned until Monday.
Weng’s arrest, which occurred on the same day President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met to discuss their trade war, is likely to further escalate tensions between Beijing and Washington.
White House officials insisted Trump did not know about the extradition request before his dinner with Xi.