U.S. adds charges against Huawei
Posted Feb 13, 2020 10:40 am.
Last Updated Feb 13, 2020 12:08 pm.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Government is adding charges of racketeering conspiracy against the Chinese telecom giant, in addition to previous charges of fraud. Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is on bail in Vancouver as she fights extradition to the U.S., is mentioned in this superseding indictment.
#BREAKING The U.S. escalates its case against Huawei. Its adding charge of racketeering conspiracy. That’s beyond fraud charges. Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, on bail in Vancouver as she fights extradition to the U.S., is mentioned in this superseding indictment.
— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) February 13, 2020
The Justice Department has added new criminal charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei and two of its U.S. subsidiaries, accusing the company in a plot to steal trade secrets from competitors in America, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
The case comes as the Trump administration is raising national security concerns about Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and is lobbying Western allies against including the company in wireless, high-speed networks.
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The new indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn adds to the legal woes in the U.S. for Huawei, which already faced bank fraud charges in that district and a separate trade secrets theft in federal court in Seattle.
The latest allegations accuse Huawei of plotting to steal the trade secrets and intellectual property of rival companies in the U.S. In some cases, prosecutors said, Huawei directed and provided incentives its own employees to steal from competitors by offering bonuses to those who brought in the most valuable stolen information.
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The company also used proxies, including professors at research institutions, to steal intellectual property, prosecutors said.
A lawyer for Huawei did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
