Lawyers for indicted Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou put a new spin on an old Rodney Dangerfield joke on Tuesday when they offered to pledge both of Meng's multimillion dollar homes as well as her husband (and her children) as collateral should the executive be granted bail.And from the Wall Street Journal, December 10:
Yes, you read that right:
Meng's lawyer also agreed that their client would wear an ankle bracelet while free on bail.
- HUAWEI CFO'S LAWYER PLEDGES HUSBAND PLUS 4 OTHERS AS SURETIES
Canadian prosecutors argue that Meng is an obvious flight risk and should be held until she is extradited to the US (a process that could take years) or tried in Canada. Meng has no deep ties to Canada and also has at her disposal immense resources (including numerous passports and her father's $2 billion fortune) to evade justice in perpetuity should she return to China, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US or Canada. Meng's lawyers, meanwhile, cited her family's residences in Vancouver as well as their clients ill health following a bout with thyroid cancer as reasons why she should be released....MORE
- MENG'S LAWYER ALSO AGREES TO ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE FOR BAIL
- CANADA JUDGE AKS HOW `HYPOTHETICAL' BAIL RELEASE TO BE FRAMED
Arrest of Huawei CFO Hinges on an Offshore Puzzle
In a presentation to bankers in 2013, Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., explained that her company no longer had a stake in Skycom Tech Co., a Hong Kong company that did business with Iran, and that she had quit its board, according to the executive’s defense.It seems there is much more to this story to come out, stay tuned.
Ms. Meng said she had served on the Skycom board to ensure it complied with trade rules, according to newly released defense filings that cite the 2013 PowerPoint presentation to HSBC Holdings Ltd.
Ms. Meng’s lawyer said Friday that she and Huawei severed ties to Skycom in 2009 and can’t be held responsible for its activities in the years that followed.
Chinese telecom giant Huawei has long caused tension between Washington and Beijing. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday explains what the company does and why it’s significant. (Photo: Aly Song/Reuters)
U.S. prosecutors say Skycom remained under Huawei’s control; between 2010 and 2014, they say, Skycom was used as a front for Huawei’s dealings with Iran in an arrangement that duped banks into approving millions of dollars in transactions that violated sanctions.
Canadian officials arrested Ms. Meng, the 46-year-old daughter of Huawei’s billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei, on Dec. 1 at the request of the U.S., which is seeking her extradition to face multiple criminal charges that each carry up to 30 years in prison, a move that has enraged the Chinese government.
Ms. Meng denies the charges. A lawyer representing Ms. Meng told a Canadian court on Friday that the idea the executive engaged in fraud will be “hotly contested.” A Canadian judge was set to hear further arguments on Monday on whether Ms. Meng should be released on bail pending a decision on her extradition. Huawei has said it knows of no wrongdoing by Ms. Meng.
The case could hinge on a large piece of the Skycom puzzle: Who ultimately controlled the company after 2009?
The answer is shrouded in mystery in part because of the opaque ownership of Skycom during the time Ms. Meng served on its board. A Wall Street Journal examination of Hong Kong corporate records found that Canicula Holdings Ltd., a company registered in the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, bought Skycom from a Huawei subsidiary in November 2007. Canicula retained ownership until Skycom was dissolved last year....MORE
