Huawei CEO faces 30 years in prison
Meng Wanzhou is suspected of lying to a US bank to conceal violations of Iran sanctions.
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Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou. Photo:AFP. |
The Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada, said yesterday that Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, was accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions" and could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted and extradited to the US. Ms. Meng will be held until December 10, when her bail hearing will resume,Reutersreport
Canadian government lawyer John Gibb-Carsley asked the court to reject the bail application, asserting that Ms. Meng had repeatedly avoided traveling to the United States since learning about the investigation into transactions that circumvented the embargo. "Huawei's CFO has no relatives in Canada, many political connections and a huge amount of assets, creating a very high risk of flight," the lawyer added.
Meng Wanzhou is suspected of lying to a US bank to use her subsidiary SkyCom to sell computer equipment to Iran between 2009 and 2014, violating Washington's sanctions against Tehran.
Ms. Meng denies any direct connection between Huawei and SkyCom. Her lawyer claims that a Huawei executive was on SkyCom’s board of directors 10 years ago, but the company is no longer owned by the Chinese telecom giant. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say Huawei still controls SkyCom.
US authorities have been suspicious of Huawei since 2016, when Washington investigated the ZTE technology group for violating sanctions against North Korea. The US Department of Commerce later released internal documents from ZTE, showing that the Chinese group was researching the embargo-defying business methods of a rival identified as "F7", believed to be Huawei.
Huawei has denied all allegations and said it complies with sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. The company objected to Canada’s arrest of Ms. Meng Wanzhou, saying it was not aware of any violations by her and that it complied with all applicable laws.
Ms. Meng, 46, joined Huawei in 1993 and held various positions in its divisions before becoming chief financial officer and vice chairwoman of the board. She is considered by some Chinese media outlets as a leading candidate to take over her father's company.
