HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CFO RELEASED ON $10 MILLION BAIL IN CANADA, FACES EXTRADITION TO U.S.
A Canadian court has granted $10 million bail to Meng Wanzhou of Huawei Technologies, the huge telecommunications company in China embroiled in suspected charges of fraud linked to alleged sanctions violations in Iran. Her arrest on a U.S. warrant has increased tense trade relations between the U.S. and Canada with China.
Beijing has expressed outrage over her detention and is holding former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig in Beijing, intensifying the dispute, reported the Vancouver Sun. Authorities detained him Monday, possibly in retaliation for Wanzhou’s arrest.
However, Canadian authorities said there is no link between the two cases.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver on Tuesday, a Canadian judge said that Meng had “met the legal burden necessary for her to be released from prison.” Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, had been detained at the Vancouver airport on Dec. 1.
Meng will face an extradition hearing on Feb. 6 in British Columbia. She faces extradition to the United States. Her arrest has been characterized as having “set off an international furor” because, for one, Washington has previously raised concerns about the Chinese conglomerate because of its links to Beijing’s government.
The Trump administration seeks to try Meng on fraud charges, accusing her of taking part in a scheme to sidestep U.S. trade sanctions against Iran.
The BBC reported late Tuesday that President Donald Trump said he would willingly intervene in the case, if necessary, to stem deteriorating trade relations with China. The U.S. accuses Meng of evading sanctions on Iran between 2009 and 2014 behind the cover of a Huawei subsidiary, Skycom.
"Whatever's good for this country, I would do," Trump said. "If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made - which is a very important thing - what's good for national security, I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary."
After a packed courtroom cheered her release, an unnamed Huawei spokesman gave the following statement to reporters while referring to the upcoming extradition hearing:
“We have every confidence that the Canadian and U.S. legal systems will reach a just conclusion in the following proceedings. As we have stressed all along, Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries and regions where we operate, including export control and sanction laws of the UN, U.S. and E.U.”
Huawei is the world’s second-largest telecommunications equipment and service provider, trailing Samsung of South Korea. Huawei recently overtook Apple in the same category.
The judge ordered Meng, who has four children, to wear a GPS ankle bracelet, be under constant 24-hour surveillance, surrender passports and travel documents and follow a curfew. She can travel only to Vancouver, Richmond and the North Shore.
Meng, 46, and her husband own two Vancouver homes worth $14 million. Her husband, Liu Xiaozong, is a Chinese citizen living in Canada on a six-month visitor’s visa, according to the Vancouver Sun. He was present in the courtroom Tuesday. The bail consists of $7 million in cash and at least five “sureties” totaling $3 million.
The judge justified the bail amount, saying it reduced flight risk, despite calling Meng a “well-educated businesswoman” with no criminal record.
Both the Chinese Embassy and Huawei came to her defense when she was detained. A Huawei statement said at the time the company was unaware of any wrongdoing on Meng’s part.
Extradition proceedings in British Columbia can be drawn out and sometimes take months or years, reported the Vancouver Sun.
