Huawei CFO accused by US of Iran sanctions cover-up

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's chief financial officer faces US accusations that she covered up her company's links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran despite sanctions, a Canadian prosecutor said yesterday, arguing against giving her bail while she awaits extradition.

After nearly six hours of arguments and counter-arguments, no decision was reached and the hearing was adjourned until Monday.

The case against Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the founder of Huawei, stems from a 2013 Reuters report about the company's close ties to Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co Ltd, which attempted to sell US equipment to Iran despite US and European Union bans, the prosecutor told a Vancouver court.

US prosecutors argue that Meng was not truthful to banks who asked her about links between the two firms, the court heard yesterday. 

If extradited to the United States, Meng would face charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions, the court heard, with a maximum sentence of 30 years for each charge.

Meng, 46, was arrested in Canada on Dec 1 at the request of the United States. The arrest was on the same day that US President Donald Trump met in Argentina with China's Xi Jinping to look for ways to resolve an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The news of her arrest has roiled stock markets and drawn condemnation from Chinese authorities, although Trump and his top economic advisers have downplayed its importance to trade talks after the two leaders agreed to a truce.

A spokesperson for Huawei had no immediate comment on the case against Meng yesterday. The company has said it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations.

Yesterday's court hearing is intended to decide on whether Meng can post bail or if she is a flight risk and should be kept in detention.

Global expansion

The prosecutor opposed bail, arguing that Meng was a high flight risk with few ties to Vancouver and that her family's wealth would mean that even a multi-million-dollar surety would not weigh heavily should she breach conditions.

Meng's lawyer, David Martin, said her prominence made it unlikely she would breach any court orders.

"You can trust her," he said. Fleeing "would humiliate and embarrass her father, whom she loves," he argued.

The United States has 60 days to make a formal extradition request, which a Canadian judge will weigh to determine whether the case against Meng is strong enough. Then it is up to Canada's justice minister to decide whether to extradite her.

Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said yesterday that neither Canada nor the United States had provided China any evidence that Meng had broken any law in those two countries, and reiterated Beijing's demand that she be released.

Chinese state media accused the United States of trying to "stifle" Huawei and curb its global expansion.

The US case against Meng involves Skycom, which had an office in Tehran and which Huawei has described as one of its "major local partners" in Iran.

In January 2013, Reuters reported that Skycom, which tried to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator, had much closer ties to Huawei and Meng than previously known.

In 2007, a management company controlled by Huawei's parent company held all of Skycom's shares. 

At the time, Meng served as the management firm's company secretary. Meng also served on Skycom's board between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records filed with Hong Kong's Companies Registry.

Illegal transactions

Huawei used Skycom's Tehran office to provide mobile network equipment to several major telecommunications companies in Iran, people familiar with the company's operations have said.

Two of the sources said that technically Skycom was controlled by Iranians to comply with local law but that it effectively was run by Huawei.

Huawei and Skycom were "the same," a former Huawei employee who worked in Iran said yesterday.

A Huawei spokesman told Reuters in 2013: "Huawei has established a trade compliance system which is in line with industry best practices and our business in Iran is in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations including those of the UN. We also require our partners, such as Skycom, to make the same commitments."

The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei violated US sanctions against Iran, Reuters reported in April.

The case against Meng revolves around her response to banks, who asked her about Huawei's links to Skycom in the wake of the 2013 Reuters report. 

US prosecutors argue that Meng fraudulently said there was no link, the court heard yesterday.

US investigators believe the misrepresentations induced the banks to provide services to Huawei despite the fact they were operating in sanctioned countries, Canadian court documents released yesterday showed.

The hearing did not name any banks, but sources told Reuters this week that the probe centred on whether Huawei had used HSBC Holdings to conduct illegal transactions. HSBC is not under investigation.

US intelligence agencies have also alleged that Huawei is linked to China's government and its equipment could contain "back doors" for use by government spies. No evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has repeatedly denied the claims.

The probe of Huawei is similar to the one that threatened the survival of China's ZTE Corp, which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating US laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran. ZTE paid a US$892 million penalty.

- Reuters