Huawei executive faces fraud charges in US: Canada bail hearing
Chinese telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer, arrested in Canada, faces US fraud charges for allegedly lying to banks about the use of a covert subsidiary to sell to Iran in breach of sanctions, a bail hearing heard yesterday. Meng Wanzhou is accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions" and if convicted, faces over 30 years in prison, a Canadian government lawyer said.
SkyCom's alleged sanction breaches occurred from 2009-2014
The Canadian government lawyer has also asked the court to deny her bail request. The lawyer said that Meng had personally denied to American bankers any direct connections between Huawei and SkyCom, when in fact "SkyCom is Huawei". SkyCom's alleged sanction breaches occurred from 2009-2014.
Meng has access to wealth, poses flight risk, says lawyer
The lawyer suggested that Meng has shown a pattern of avoiding the United States since becoming aware of the investigation has no ties to Canada and has access to vast wealth and connections. She thus poses a flight risk. Meng was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 while transferring planes on a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico, at the request of US authorities.
