Huawei CFO Charged With Fraud To Circumvent US, EU Sanctions On Iran, Faces Upto 30 Years In Jail

Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, has been charged with fraudulently representing her company in order to get around US and EU sanctions on Iran, a Canadian court hearing has revealed.

Wanzhou made an appearance at the British Columbia Supreme Court, Vancouver for a bail hearing on fraud charges. The hearing ended without a decision and will continue on Monday (10 December), South China Morning Post reported.

She was detained last weekend at Vancouver airport on a US extradition request. The US is seeking to extradite her in relation to Huawei’s alleged use of an unofficial subsidiary, Skycom, to contravene the sanctions.

China has condemned her arrest and demanded her immediate release, calling the arrest a violation of human rights.

At a packed courtroom in Vancouver, the Canadian government’s lawyer, John Gibb-Carsley, informed the court that the US is seeking Meng’s extradition on “fraud offences” involving US and EU sanctions against Iran. Between 2009 and 2014, Huawei was accused of using an unofficial subsidiary, Skycom, to conduct business in Iran.

Doubts have been cast whether Meng’s alleged breach of US and EU sanctions constitutes an offence in Canada but Gibb-Carsley argued that the efforts to deceive financial institutions amounted to fraud in Canadian law.

Wanzhou faces multiple charges, each of which carries a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison.

Her arrest threatens to derail the negotiation for a long-term trade deal between Beijing and Washington after US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping declared a temporary truce at the G-20 Summit.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton hinted that Huawei was among the Chinese firms pilfering US technology.

"You should not turn a blind eye when states, as a matter of national policy, are stealing intellectual property from their competitors," Bolton told NPR's Morning Edition. "Huawei is one company we've been concerned about. There are others as well."