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Huawei CFO’s lawyer disputes what HSBC knew as extradition case resumes

Published 03/01/2021, 06:05 AM
Updated 03/01/2021, 05:01 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to appear in British Columbia supreme court

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to appear in British Columbia supreme court

By Moira Warburton and Sarah Berman

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's U.S. extradition hearing resumed in a Canadian court on Monday with defence countering prosecutors' claims that Meng misled HSBC about the Chinese telecom company's relationship with its affiliate while doing business in Iran.

As five days of hearings in the British Columbia Supreme Court started, the defence drilled into the alleged sanction violations that led to Meng's arrest. The daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei is accused by the United States of misleading HSBC about her company's business arrangements in Iran, causing the bank to break U.S. sanctions.

Meng, 49, was arrested at Vancouver's airport in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant and has been living under house arrest in one of the city's wealthiest neighbourhoods while her case makes its way through Canada's courts.

Defence lawyer Frank Addario kicked off a new phase of hearings with an assertion that HSBC's global client relationship manager, tasked with overseeing its dealings with Huawei Technologies, knew that Huawei controlled Skycom Tech Co Ltd's accounts.

U.S. prosecutors allege Skycom operated as a Huawei affiliate in Iran and that Meng misrepresented this relationship. Meng allegedly made statements suggesting Skycom was sold to an arms-length third party, according to the prosecutors, when it was in fact sold to a parent company controlled by Huawei.

Addario countered that HSBC employee emails show that information about Huawei's control of Skycom was shared freely before and after this relationship was first reported in the press by Reuters.

Addario said that U.S. prosecutors’ evidence that HSBC made decisions based on Meng’s statements "is very misleading in that it underplays the global relationship manager’s knowledge.”

As a result, they demand the extradition case should be overthrown.

Following testimony from Canadian border officials and police officers involved in the case in late 2020, the latest hearings will also focus on Trump's alleged interference in the case, as well as outstanding issues from witness testimony and other abuses of process arguments.

Meng's arrest caused tensions between Beijing and Ottawa, and soon afterward, China detained two Canadians, who continue to have limited access to legal counsel or diplomatic officials.

© Reuters. Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver

Meng's case is scheduled to wrap in May.

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