Technology

US files fraud charges against Chinese firm Huawei

One of tech giant’s executives Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on December 1st

Acting US attorney general Matthew Whitaker, secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielson, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross (left), and FBI director Christopher Wray (right), announce a 13-count indictment of financial fraud charges against Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei in Washington, DC. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Mon Jan 28 2019 - 22:00

The US justice department has filed charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei.

A 13-count indictment was unsealed in New York charging Huawei, two of its affiliates and a senior executive at the company.

The charges include bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

A separate case filed in Washington state charges Huawei with stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile.

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Meng Wanzhou, the company's chief financial officer, was arrested in Canada on December 1st. Prosecutors allege she committed fraud by misleading US banks about Huawei's business deals in Iran.

Prosecutors say Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of US sanctions.

US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said the Huawei case was "wholly separate" from trade negotiations with China.

Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies. – AP

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