24th September, 2021
Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou who has been in house arrest in Canada since 2018 regained her freedom Friday.
This followed the signing of an order of discharge by British Columbia Supreme Court Associate Justice Heather Holmes.
The order allowed Meng to walk free, ending a debacle that has lasted more than two-and-a-half years.
“My life has been turned upside down, it was a disruptive time for me,” Meng said after being discharged.
“Every cloud has a silver lining … I will never forget all the good wishes I received from people around the world.”
Meng’s freedom from house arrest comes after reaching a deferred prosecution deal with the US Department of Justice. She appeared virtually in a New York courtroom from her mansion in Vancouver, Canada, earlier in the day and pleaded non guilty.
“Under the terms of the DPA, Meng has agreed to the accuracy of a four-page statement of facts that details the knowingly false statements she made to Financial Institution 1,” the DOJ said on Friday, referring to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).
“Meng also has agreed not to commit other federal, state or local crimes. If Meng breaches the agreement, she will be subject to prosecution of all the charges against her in the third superseding indictment filed in this case.
“The government also agreed to withdraw its request to the Ministry of Justice of Canada that Meng be extradited to the United States,” it adds.
The three-year affair began when she was detained by Canadian police on December 1, 2018, during a layover at Vancouver International Airport while traveling from Hong Kong to Mexico.
An arrest warrant had been issued four months earlier by the US District Court for the District of Eastern District of New York which accused her of circumventing US sanctions on Iran years earlier by clearing money she claimed was for Huawei, but that was actually for the Iranian tech company Skycom.
She was released on December 11, 2018, on $10 million bail and under electronic surveillance, although she was only formally charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud on January 28, 2019.
Her extradition case did not begin until January 2020, and the following month, new charges of theft of trade secrets were also brought by the US DOJ.
Reported by Sputnik News