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Uncle Sam throws Huawei CFO a bone in her extradition fight, but deal will require an admission of wrongdoing
Deferred prosecution agreement offered to Meng Wanzhou
Matthew Hughes Fri 4 Dec 2020

US prosecutors have reportedly offered Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou a deferred prosecution agreement. If accepted, the deal will have charges deferred and eventually dismissed, but will require Meng to admit to wrongdoing.

Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver, Canada, where she owns two homes, awaiting extradition to the US. The Justice Department is seeking her removal over claims she misled HSBC over Huawei's business dealings in Iran, resulting in the banking giant falling foul of US sanctions against the country.

The US government claims Meng lied to HSBC in 2009 about Huawei's ties to an Iran business, SkyCom, while attempting to secure a $1.5bn loan. It alleges SkyCom wasn't merely a local partner, as Huawei claims, but rather an unofficial subsidiary fully controlled by the troubled Chinese tech biz.

Huawei has also been accused of using SkyCom to export millions of dollars of computer equipment to telecos in Iran that are linked to the nation's government, as well as its armed forces. These include server and data centre hardware made by Hewlett-Packard, as well as software from Microsoft, Symantec, and Novell.

At the time of the alleged offence in late 2010, the recipient, Mobile Communication Co of Iran, was controlled by a consortium of rather nasty characters. These include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, as well as the nation's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni.

US sanctions prohibit any form of trade with the nation's government and military, which extends to the largely civilian computer equipment allegedly provided by Skycom. Exemptions exist for information technology products designed to support personal communications among Iranians (like mobile phones), as well as those intended to support democracy in Iran.

According to Reuters, Meng is reluctant to admit wrongdoing, which, if she did, would provide extra ammunition for the US government in its fight against Huawei.

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https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/04/meng_wanzhou_deferred_prosecution/