Huawei exec goes to Canada court to fight US

IT Live: A senior Huawei executive whose arrest in Vancouver led to a breakdown in Canada-China relations headed to court on Monday to fight extradition to the United States. Meng Wanzhou, the company’s chief financial officer and eldest daughter of
its founder Ren Zhengfei, is wanted by US authorities for alleged fraud.

In order to secure her freedom, the “princess of Huawei” must convince a Canadian judge that the US charges linked to alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran would not stand up in Canada and are politically motivated.

The US alleges Meng lied to HSBC about Huawei’s relationship with its Iran-based affiliate Skycom, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Tehran. “Simply put, there is evidence she deceived HSBC in order to induce it to
continue to provide banking services to Huawei,” the justice department said in court filings.

Meng has denied the allegations. She has been out on bail, living in one of her two Vancouver mansions for the past year, awaiting trial. The justice department will say in arguing for her extradition that the US accusations against Meng would be considered a crime in Canada if they had occurred there. This is a key test known as double criminality.

But if the US accusations are found to also be a crime in Canada, it will proceed to a next phase in June, when defense arguments that authorities conspired to nab Meng as part of a “covert criminal investigation” would be heard.

Dhaka 20 January (campuslive24.com)//az

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