Huawei Executive Had at Least 7 Passports From China, Hong Kong - Court Files
According to Canadian court documents, Huawei operated Skycom Tech Co LTD as an unofficial subsidiary to conduct business in Iran, Reuters reported Friday.
In particular, Skycom bank accounts were controlled by Huawei employees, court documents revealed. In turn, Skycom chiefs in Iran were employed by Huawei.
© AFP 2018 / NICOLAS ASFOURI
'Ceasefire?': Huawei Executive Arrest Shows US-China Trade War Far From Over - Pundit
The media report also said, citing the Canadian court documents, that a certain financial institution and its subsidiary office in the US cleared more than $100 million of transactions related to Skycom through the United States between 2010 and 2014. Evidence also showed that Skycom was sold in 2009, not to an unrelated entity but to one also controlled by Huawei until at least 2014.
According to Reuters, Huawei tried to obstruct the investigation by moving out of the US any Chinese national employees who may be potential witnesses regarding company's operations in Iran. Moreover, US authorities believe that Huawei's top managers began avoiding travel to the US around April 2017 after becoming aware of the US criminal probe.
A New York court issued an arrest warrant for Huawei Technologies' Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on August 22, asking she be detained to stand trial for US charges, Reuters said, citing documents released during her bail hearing in Canada on Friday.
READ MORE: Huawei's Executive Arrest Unlikely to Disrupt US-China Trade Talk — Analysts
Moreover, US authorities have reportedly received evidence that Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, has had at least seven passports issued in China and Hong Kong in the last 11 years.
The Canadian court documents said the United States learned on November 29 that Meng was stopping over in Vancouver on her way to a third country, believed to be Mexico.
Meanwhile, Huawei on Friday dismissed allegations by a number of nations that it threatened security of foreign countries.
"We strongly reject any accusations that our company may pose any security risks," Huawei said in a statement. The company underlined that it had never been asked by any state to create loopholes in networks.
"We are part of the solution, not part of the problem. No government has ever asked us to create loopholes in the networks or penetrate them, and we would never tolerate such actions from any of our employees," the IT giant stressed.
The Chinese firm has recently faced scrutiny, mainly in Western states. On Thursday, European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip said that foreign countries should be "worried" about Huawei and other Chinese tech giants, as they were allegedly forced to cooperate with the Chinese intelligence services.
© AP Photo / Dake Kang
Bolton 'Knew in Advance' of Huawei CFO Arrest as Trudeau Denies Political Motive
In mid-August, US President Donald Trump enacted legislation banning government agencies from using services from Huawei and ZTE, along with other Chinese companies. This came after retail stores at US military bases were prohibited from selling Huawei and ZTE mobile phones over concerns that they "pose an unacceptable risk to the department’s personnel, information and mission."
In November, media reported that the United States had been urging its allies, including Japan, to abandon the use of Huawei products due to security concerns.
Meng was arrested in Vancouver last Saturday at the US' request, on suspicion of violating US sanctions against Iran.
According to Canadian court documents, Huawei operated Skycom Tech Co LTD as an unofficial subsidiary to conduct business in Iran, Reuters reported Friday.
In particular, Skycom bank accounts were controlled by Huawei employees, court documents revealed. In turn, Skycom chiefs in Iran were employed by Huawei.
© AFP 2018 / NICOLAS ASFOURI
'Ceasefire?': Huawei Executive Arrest Shows US-China Trade War Far From Over - Pundit
The media report also said, citing the Canadian court documents, that a certain financial institution and its subsidiary office in the US cleared more than $100 million of transactions related to Skycom through the United States between 2010 and 2014. Evidence also showed that Skycom was sold in 2009, not to an unrelated entity but to one also controlled by Huawei until at least 2014.
According to Reuters, Huawei tried to obstruct the investigation by moving out of the US any Chinese national employees who may be potential witnesses regarding company's operations in Iran. Moreover, US authorities believe that Huawei's top managers began avoiding travel to the US around April 2017 after becoming aware of the US criminal probe.
A New York court issued an arrest warrant for Huawei Technologies' Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on August 22, asking she be detained to stand trial for US charges, Reuters said, citing documents released during her bail hearing in Canada on Friday.
READ MORE: Huawei's Executive Arrest Unlikely to Disrupt US-China Trade Talk — Analysts
Moreover, US authorities have reportedly received evidence that Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, has had at least seven passports issued in China and Hong Kong in the last 11 years.
The Canadian court documents said the United States learned on November 29 that Meng was stopping over in Vancouver on her way to a third country, believed to be Mexico.
Meanwhile, Huawei on Friday dismissed allegations by a number of nations that it threatened security of foreign countries.
"We strongly reject any accusations that our company may pose any security risks," Huawei said in a statement. The company underlined that it had never been asked by any state to create loopholes in networks.
"We are part of the solution, not part of the problem. No government has ever asked us to create loopholes in the networks or penetrate them, and we would never tolerate such actions from any of our employees," the IT giant stressed.
The Chinese firm has recently faced scrutiny, mainly in Western states. On Thursday, European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip said that foreign countries should be "worried" about Huawei and other Chinese tech giants, as they were allegedly forced to cooperate with the Chinese intelligence services.
© AP Photo / Dake Kang
Bolton 'Knew in Advance' of Huawei CFO Arrest as Trudeau Denies Political Motive
In mid-August, US President Donald Trump enacted legislation banning government agencies from using services from Huawei and ZTE, along with other Chinese companies. This came after retail stores at US military bases were prohibited from selling Huawei and ZTE mobile phones over concerns that they "pose an unacceptable risk to the department’s personnel, information and mission."
In November, media reported that the United States had been urging its allies, including Japan, to abandon the use of Huawei products due to security concerns.
Meng was arrested in Vancouver last Saturday at the US' request, on suspicion of violating US sanctions against Iran.
