In Canada, the case of the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, accused of bank fraud, was closed and released under an agreement with the United States, on Friday, ending three years of legal and diplomatic complications between Beijing, Washington and Ottawa.
Officials said Friday that Meng Fanzhou had agreed with US prosecutors to close a bank fraud case against him. The agreement would allow him to leave Canada, which could ease tensions between China and the United States. The extradition tragedy between Beijing and Washington has for years been a central source of increasingly angry relations, and Chinese officials have suggested the case should be dropped to help end a diplomatic stalemate between the world’s two leading powers.
Meng Van Chute was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport under a US arrest warrant and charged with bank fraud. The United States said it dealt with Iran through a Hong Kong front company called Skycom between 2009 and 2014, in violation of sanctions imposed by Washington and the European Union on Iran respectively. Huawei denies these allegations. The arrest of the Chinese company’s chief financial officer sparked a diplomatic storm and Canada’s involvement in the lawsuit when China soon became Meng. van zoo After his arrest, he arrested two Canadians, a businessman and a former diplomat. China has publicly denied a link between the arrests.
Reuters reported in a special article on Friday that the United States has reached an agreement to postpone the indictment with Meng Fanzhou. . Nicole Buckman, the US attorney general in Brooklyn, said that by concluding the agreement, the chief financial officer took responsibility for his primary role in perpetrating a scheme to deceive a global financial institution. The agreement only applies to Meng Van-hour and
The US Department of Justice announced that it is preparing to file a lawsuit against Huawei,
He is awaiting proof of his case in court. According to a person familiar with the matter, Meng Fan Zu He returned to China on Friday night. At a federal court hearing in Brooklyn on Friday that was nearly attended by Canada, US Deputy Attorney General David Kessler said the government would propose dropping charges against him if it fulfilled all of its obligations under the December 2022 agreement. He added that Meng Van Chute would be released on personal bail and The United States plans to withdraw the extradition request to Canada.
Canadian judge later signed Meng van zoo The dismissal order, which lifted the bail conditions and allowed him to leave freely after nearly three years of house arrest. Speaking to supporters and reporters on the steps of the court, the CFO thanked the judge for a fair trial and spoke of the relief of his life.
In addition to resolving the US-China dispute, the agreement also allows for the release of two Canadian businessmen, Michael Spavor, a Canadian businessman detained in China, and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who also holds a Hungarian passport. In August, a Chinese court charged with espionage Michael Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced late Friday night that Canadian citizens will be repatriated early Saturday morning.
