A high court in Canada released documents Tuesday in the extradition case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in which her attorneys argue U.S. officials have been “misleading and manifestly unreliable” in presenting evidence seeking to bring her to the U.S.
The U.S. argues that Meng committed fraud against HSBC in August 2013 when she met with bank officials and failed to connect Huawei to Skycom. Skycom was accused of providing communications equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. economic sanctions.
But Meng’s attorneys presented new evidence obtained from HSBC that show a top HSBC employee who managed bank business with Huawei was “fully informed about every important issue relevant to sanctions for the Bank. “
Meng’s attorneys are seeking admission of the new evidence, which they called “potentially capable of showing the [U.S. case against Meng] is misleading and manifestly unreliable.” Her extradition hearing is set for August before the Supreme Court for British Columbia, Canada.
Meng, 49, is the daughter of Hauwei founder Ren Zhenfei. The U.S. wants her extradited to New York to face charges of fraud and conspiracy on allegations she lied to the HSBC executive in 2013. U.S. prosecutors argue that HSBC relied on Meng’s alleged misrepresentations and decided to continue a multi-billion-dollar financial partnership with Huawei which the U.S. claims meant the bank risked losses and prosecution for breaching the U.S. economic sanctions.
She has been under house arrest in Canada since 2018. In a tweet, Huawei Canada said, “Huawei remains confident in Meng Wanzhou’s innocence. We will continue to support Ms. Meng’s pursuit of justice and freedom.”
The documents Huawei obtained from HSBC “show there is no evidence of fraud on HSBC,” the tweet added. “They show that Huawei’s control over Skycom was not kept from senior HSBC executives; that the continuing nature of Skycom’s business with Huawei in Iran was not kept from senior HSBC executives; that internal HSBC risk-assessments were made based on knowledge of the true facts; and that any reputational risks were managed with the knowledge of senior HSBC executives.”
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