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Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou victim of abuse of process, lawyers maintain despite 7 police affidavits
- Police statements and emails contain inconsistencies over whether ID numbers of her mobile devices were handed to US authorities, defence lawyers say
- ‘Covert criminal investigation’ was conducted on FBI’s behalf before Meng’s arrest in Vancouver over fraud allegations, her lawyers suggest
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Lawyers for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou have said they are not convinced Canadian police did not send electronic identification numbers for her phones and tablet to American law enforcement – despite affidavits from seven officers swearing they did no such thing.
The question of whether Canadian police shared the identification numbers with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is central to Meng’s defence team’s efforts. They are trying to build a case showing that there was an abuse of process when the Chinese telecoms giant’s chief financial officer was first detained by the Canada Border Services Agency, then arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The United States is seeking Meng’s extradition to face trial for allegedly defrauding HSBC by misleading the bank about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran. On December 1, Meng was arrested at Vancouver airport during a stopover from Hong Kong on her way to Mexico.
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Meng’s extradition trial is set to begin in January 2020. Lawyers for the Canadian government and for Meng were in court between September 23 and October 4, with the defence seeking more disclosure of documents related to her initial detention and arrest.
During that earlier hearing, newly disclosed documents revealed that Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers made a mistake when they sent Meng’s electronic passwords to police.
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