Huawei finance boss faces fraud charges
HUAWEI’S chief financial officer faces charges over an alleged conspiracy to defraud banking institutions.
Meng Wanzhou, 46, was arrested in Canada last week and is wanted in the US over “fraud offences”, a Vancouver court heard yesterday.
John Gibb-carsley, a Canadian prosecutor, said that the telecoms giant used a subsidiary, Hong Kongbased firm Skycom, to do business with Iran, bypassing US sanctions.
Ms Meng allegedly misled bankers by assuring them that Skycom and Huawei were separate firms, after links between them were reported by Reuters in 2013. This put the banks at risk of breaching sanctions. “Skycom is Huawei”, he said.
He added that Ms Meng should not be granted bail as she could be a flight risk. She faces multiple charges, each with a penalty of up to 30 years in jail upon conviction.
Huawei has denied violating sanctions. David Martin, Ms Meng’s lawyer, said the evidence does not prove she broke US or Canadian law.
There are exemptions for telecom equipment in sanctions against Iran, he argued.
He said his client would not flee because it would humiliate and embarrass Ren Zhengfei, her father and Huawei’s founder. She would agree to be electronically monitored, he said, and her “extraordinary resources” should not be used to justify denying her bail.
The warrant was issued by a New York court on Aug 22, and Ms Meng was arrested as she travelled from Hong Kong to Mexico via Canada on Dec 1.
The US has 60 days to make a formal extradition request, which a Canadian judge will assess, and then the decision lies with Canada’s justice minister.
Huawei has denied that it poses a security risk, and China has demanded the release of Ms Meng.