Ms. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei technologies, was freed on bail by a Canadian judge, who, despite opposition, accepted the bail amount offered by her attorneys, which included cash and real estate she and her husband owned in Vancouver, B.C.
Ms. Waanzhou cried upon her release after being held for almost 3 weeks. Her arrest on charges of fraud electrified governments of China, the U.S. and Canada. She is the daughter of the founder of the company and is thought to be in line to assume the role of chief executive. Her extradition is sought by the US Dept. of Justice, but it could take time, maybe months. As part of her release agreement, she must be monitored electronically(wear a cuff), she is restricted in movement during daylight hours, and must be confined from 11pm until 6am.
The allegations unsealed by the judge include making false statements about subsidiaries owned by the company; about the sale of certain technology to Iran in violation of existing sanctions; and conspiring to evade sanctions by the establishment of shell companies used to conceal the company's actions. banks involved are Citigroup, Inc., Australia & New Zealand Group Ltd., DBS Group Holdings Ltd., and Bank of China.
Her arrest also came at the time of the Group of 20 Economic conference in Argentina where Pres. Xi was to meet with Pres. Trump to continue their trade talks that appear to be headed to tariffs and a possible trade war of sorts.
Yesterday, China arrested a Canadian official in China in retaliation. American business executives have been put on alert and no doubt will change travel plans to east Asia.
No comments:
Post a Comment