US charges Chinese telecoms giant Huawei with conspiracy, money laundering
- US accuses company of stealing trade secrets from a rival and violating US sanctions against doing business with Iran
- Acting Attorney General also confirms plan to seek extradition of CFO Meng Wanzhou from Canada
The United States filed charges on Monday against Huawei Technologies, contending that the Chinese telecommunication giant stole trade secrets from a telecoms rival and violated US sanctions against doing business with Iran.
Senior officials of the Trump administration gathered at the Department of Justice in Washington to announce criminal indictments against Huawei, the largest Chinese smartphone maker; its US affiliate; Hong Kong-based Skycom; and Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, for conspiracy that poses a national security threat to the US.
Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker also confirmed that the department planned to file for extradition of Meng, who was detained by Canadian authorities at the request of the US in December. The US was facing a Wednesday deadline to pursue extradition proceedings.
The US contends that Meng, 46, a daughter of Huawei’s founder, committed bank fraud to sidestep sanctions against doing business with Iran. She is free on bail in Vancouver, British Columbia, pending extradition proceedings.
The indictments unsealed on Monday, were the result of lengthy investigations and included nearly two dozen charges, US officials said.