Huawei CFO Accused Of Iran Fraud By US Authorities, Faces Up To 30 Years In Jail

Karamchand Rameshwar - Dec 10, 2018

Huawei's CFO and daughter of Huawei's CEO, Meng Wanzhou, is accused of fraud by US authorities and faces a penalty of up to 30 years in jail.

At today’s bail hearing, there will be new details about the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Canada.

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei founder’s daughter Ren Zhengfei, receives the accusation of fraud with a penalty of up to thirty years in jail, as revealed by Journalists participating in the hearing. Meng is accused by the US Justice Department to allow Skycom which is an unofficial subsidiary of Huawei, to run business in Iran which violates US sanctions against Iran and misleads financial institutions of the US in the process.

The tensions between Huawei and authorities of the US have already been at a high level since 2016, aggravated by the ongoing trade war between China and the US. Huawei has been considered a big threat to US national security due to its close relationship with the Chinese government. Director of the White House’s National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, spoke on CNBC saying the US already given the leading Chinese company in ICT and smart devices some warnings.

The US is currently having a trade war with China

The Canadian Department of Justice argued against grating Meng bail, saying that the Huawei CFO does have the incentive to flee the country. On the other hand, Meng’s lawyer said that “ Meng wouldn’t embarrass her father by breaching a court order.”

Meng might be extradited to the US, and this process could take a few weeks or even months to finish. The US Department of Justice needs to send the request for extradition within 60 days. And the Canadian court will be the one approves the request.

In the statement sent to TechCrunch several days after its CFO’s arrest, Huawei’s spokesperson said that the Chinese company wasn’t aware of any misconduct by Meng. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign affairs has requested Canadian authorities to release Meng. The spokesperson for the Ministry has said that the Canadian authorities needed to provide further explanations of Meng detention to “effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the person concerned.”