Huawei CFO Arrested in Canada

Wanzhou Meng, the CFO and deputy chairwoman of Huawei Technologies Co., has been arrested in Vancouver and is facing potential extradition to the United States as American authorities investigate the company for potential violations of Iran sanctions.

A spokesman for Canada’s Justice Department said Wednesday that Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec 1.

“She is sought for extradition by the United States, and a bail hearing has been set for Friday,” Ian McLeod, a department spokesman, said in an email. “As there is a publication ban in effect, we cannot provide any further detail at this time. The ban was sought by Ms. Meng.”

The arrest was first reported by Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. It comes as Huawei is said to be facing a probe by the U.S. Justice Department for violating sanctions against Iran. The reason for Meng’s arrest was not immediately clear.

The U.S. Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment. Huawei also didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau referred questions to the country’s justice department.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department began probing Huawei for potentially violating sanctions that banned the Chinese company from selling equipment to Iran.

In 2016, the Commerce Department sought information in regards to Huawei possibly sending U.S. technology to Syria and North Korea as well. The U.S. previously banned ZTE, a Huawei competitor, for violating similar sanctions.

The sales sanctions on Huawei and others emerged following 2016 concerns that the companies had the ability to install back doors in their equipment that would allow them to monitor users in the U.S. Huawei has denied those allegations.

From: Bloomberg

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