Huawei chief suffers extradition setback after HSBC documents blocked
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has been dealt a major blow in her extradition case after a judge denied her application to use a trove of HSBC documents as evidence.
Meng is facing extradition from Canada to the US on charges of bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei’s dealings in Iran, potentially causing the bank to violate sanctions.
She has been under house arrest in Vancouver she was detained in December 2018.
Her legal team had applied to enter into evidence 300 pages of internal documents it received from HSBC following a court case in Hong Kong.
Lawyers for the Chinese tech chief said they disproved the basis for the US extradition case.
But a Canadian judge has denied the application. Her reasons will be released in writing in approximately 10 days’ time.
“We respect the court’s ruling, but regret this outcome,” Huawei Canada said in a statement released after the ruling, insisting that the documents showed HSBC was aware of Huawei’s business dealings in Iran, proving that the United States’ account of the case was “manifestly unreliable”.
The case is centred on a meeting between Meng and HSBC at a Hong Kong restaurant in August 2013.
The US claims that Meng misled HSBC about its relationship with telecoms firm Skycom, in which it owns a controlling stake.
Meng is alleged to have told bank executives in a Power Point presentation that Skycom was a business partner rather than a subsidiary, leading HSBC to accidentally fall foul of US sanctions.
But Meng’s legal team has insisted HSBC was fully aware of the nature of Huawei’s relationship with Skycom and accused the US of giving Canadian authorities an incomplete copy of the presentation.
Meng is set to appear in court in early August. Her extradition hearings are scheduled to finish by the end of that month.