Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. CFO Meng Wanzhou will apply to include new evidence to her extradition proceedings during her next court appearance in September that supposedly demonstrates the case built against her by U.S. authorities is “manifestly unreliable,” court documents show.
In documents filed with B.C. Supreme Court ahead of Monday’s resumption of Meng’s extradition proceedings, the Huawei executive’s lawyers said they plan to apply to associate chief justice Heather Holmes to include seven new items to the case. These documents include Meng’s own full PowerPoint presentation to HSBC - the bank U.S. authorities alleged Meng defrauded by concealing Huawei’s relationship with a subsidiary (Skycom) in Iran - in 2013.
Meng is alleging that, while U.S. authorities used part of the PowerPoint to portray the Huawei executive as dishonest, the full file shows “that portrayal is defective and unreliable.”
“The Applicant [Meng] told HSBC that Huawei and Skycom did business together in Iran and that Huawei’s relationship with Skycom was ‘normal and controllable business cooperation’ whereby ‘Huawei requires Skycom to make commitments on observing applicable laws, regulations and export control requirements,’” the court filing said. “… The purpose of admitting this evidence is to allow for a meaningful judicial process.”
U.S. officials say Meng, in her 2013 meeting with HSBC, concealed the Huawei/Skycom relationship to bankers and was thus able to secure banking services through the financial institution - while putting it at risk of violating U.S. sanctions against doing business in Iran. Fraud - along with money laundering and stealing trade secrets - are the main criminal charges against Meng on which the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking the extradition of the Huawei executive from Canada.
Meng was arrested in Vancouver in late 2018 on a U.S. request for extradition.
Beyond the original PowerPoint presentation Meng showed to HSBC in 2013, the seven pieces of new evidence also included testimonial affidavits from banking and sanction law experts, as well as officials with the bank. All of the new evidence being introduced focused on whether Meng and Huawei’s actions in dealing with HSBC would expose the bank unknowingly to U.S. prosecution and potential loss - which is the foundation of the fraud allegations against the Huawei executive.
Among the points Meng’s defense is attempting to establish with the new evidence are: That HSBC knew “broadly” of Huawei’s relationship with Skycom, that the U.S. government never penalized banks for a client’s deceptive behaviour, and that it may be possible for HSBC to clear U.S. dollar transactions (like the ones done on behalf of Huawei) by going through Hong Kong (thus bypassing the U.S. banking system and its jurisdiction).
“In order to carry out a meaningful judicial assessment of the evidence, the Court should consider all of the Applicant’s [Meng’s] representations in her PowerPoint, not just the incomplete summary of the ROC [record of the case],” the Meng defense filing said. “Her PowerPoint is the key piece of evidence the Requesting State [the United States] relies on to show the Applicant deceived HSBC… The Requesting State’s submission does not withstand scrutiny because it is based on a misleading record.”
The Meng extradition proceedings, currently in the debate over whether certain communications between the Attorney General of Canada and the RCMP on the day of Meng’s arrest should be privileged or be disclosed in court, continues this week in closed hearings.
Meng’s next public court appearance - where her team will officially apply to include the new evidence - is scheduled for Sept. 28.
