Canadian authorities have arrested the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, the Chinese company that manufactures cell phones and other products. Wanzhou Meng, who also serves as deputy chair on the company’s board and is the daughter of the founder, Ren Zhengfei, faces extradition to the US on suspicion of violating anti-Iran sanctions.
“Wanzhou Meng was arrested in Vancouver on December 1. She is sought for extradition by the United States, and a bail hearing has been set for Friday,” Department of Justice spokesperson Ian McLeod told The Globe and Mail.
US authorities requested Meng’s arrest, the paper reported.
“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 Justice Department spokesman added.
The Wall Street Journal reported in April that US prosecutors in New York were probing whether Huawei violated US sanctions against Iran. The revelation followed a number of US measures to curb the flow of Chinese-made phones by manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE Corp into the US market and to ban them from use by members of the military over fears that they could be used by the Chinese government for surveillance.
The Pentagon has ordered US military bases to stop selling Chinese-made ZTE and Huawei phones over concerns they pose a threat to national security, Sputnik News reported in May.
US authorities have also been looking into allegations that Huawei shipped US-made products to Iran and other nations in violation of US export laws and sanctions since at least 2016, the outlet reported.
Huawei is the second-largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in the world.
Meng previously was a board member of another company, Skycom Tech Co. Ltd., that was accused of having attempted to ship computer equipment made by Hewitt Packard to Iran’s biggest cell phone operator. Huawei said that neither they nor Skycom ever made the shipment, however.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
