VANCOUVER/NEW YORK (CANADA, US) – Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is raising a new argument in a Canadian court in what is seen as an effort to fight extradition to the United States on charges of bank fraud, revealed court documents released on Monday.
According to Meng’s lawyers, the case that the United States submitted to Canada is “so replete with intentional and reckless error” that it violates her rights.
Meng, 48, was detained in Vancouver on Dec. 1, 2018, on the behest of the United States, where she is charged with bank fraud and is also accused of misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s business in Iran.
Meng, the daughter of billionaire Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, has said she is innocent and is fighting the extradition bid.
The arrest led to China’s relations with the US and Canada getting strained.
A PowerPoint presentation that Meng gave to an HSBC banker in Hong Kong way back in 2013 has been cited as key evidence against her.
In that presentation, she said that Skycom Tech Co Ltd – a firm that operated in Iran – was “a business partner of Huawei,” while the United States has described it as an unofficial subsidiary.
Meng’s lawyers argued the prosecutors left out key disclosures in her presentation regarding Huawei’s ongoing business operations in Iran and that Skycom worked with Huawei in sales and service in that country.
The lawyers said without those disclosures, the US summary of the PowerPoint was “materially misleading.”
Meng’s lawyers also explained that the case said only “junior” HSBC employees knew of the relationship between Huawei and Skycom. The lawyers said it is implausible that HSBC senior management was unaware of the relationship as Huawei was one of HSBC’s biggest clients.
They also said that a $900 million credit facility that the United States said HSBC had given to Huawei did not exist. Rather Huawei was in a $1.6 billion credit arrangement with 26 banks, and HSBC’s total contribution was limited to $80 million, they argued.
They also added that the credit facility was never drawn on by Huawei and it was cancelled in June 2017.
Assistant Chief Justice Heather Holmes of British Columbia Supreme Court said in a case conference on Monday that she wanted to be fully apprised of the US case before turning to Meng’s claims that her rights were violated when she was arrested.
A spokesman for U.S. prosecutors declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Canadian Justice minister refused to comment as the case is before the courts.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field