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| https://www.crisisgroup.org/ |
Meng the Fang has some trafficking tiny humans issues going on, but she is still looks absolutely fabulous.
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou loses key B.C. court decision in extradition case
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes rejected her argument the process should be stopped because the accusations were political at heart |
| Meng "The Fang" Wanzhou Rocking it with the tether |
China tech giant Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou will continue to face extradition to the U.S. from Canada on fraud charges, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes rejected Meng’s argument the process should be stopped because the accusations are political at heart and do not constitute a crime in Canada — an essential element under the extradition treaty.
“On the question of law posed, I conclude that, as a matter of law, the double criminality requirement for extradition is capable of being met in this case,” Holmes wrote in the 23-page decision.
“The effects of the U.S. sanctions may properly play a role in the double-criminality analysis as part of the background or context against which the alleged conduct is examined.”
Holmes added that she was making no determination about the larger question of whether there is admissible evidence that would justify Meng’s committal for trial in Canada.
“This question will be determined at a later stage in the proceedings,” she said.
Arrested at the Vancouver airport in December 2018, Meng is wanted in the United States for conduct Washington considers a violation of U.S.-imposed sanctions against Iran.
American prosecutors alleged the veritable princess of the communist regime lied to bank officials inquiring into links between Huawei and a former subsidiary doing business in Iran.
Meng’s lawyers asked Holmes to halt the extradition process because her conduct would not amount to fraud if committed in Canada — failing to meet the so-called “double-criminality” requirement — because the country had no sanctions against Iran.
“It is important to note that these allegations are unproven but must be taken as true for the purpose of this application,” Holmes emphasized in dismissing that argument.
The case has become the centre of a global drama, a proxy squabble between Beijing and Washington that has Canada caught in the middle.
Two Canadians — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — were arrested in China days after Meng’s arrest and accused of violating national-security laws.
A former diplomat stationed in China, Kovrig was working as an analyst and researcher for a think tank called the International Crisis Group.
Spavor, from Calgary, was with the Paektu Cultural Exchange, an organization that promotes investment and tourism in North Korea.
They were separately detained on Dec. 10, 2018.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on April 23 that consular services for the two being held under reputedly deplorable conditions were not currently available because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since December 2018, however, Meng has been free on $10 million bail, living in one of her two local mansions, swanning around Vancouver in designer clothes sporting a correctional ankle bracelet.
The daughter of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, Meng was charged with bank and wire fraud after U.S. investigators alleged she misrepresented the company’s relationship with a subsidiary, putting the bank at risk of violating the sanctions.
“She is said to have made false statements to HSBC in 2013, significantly understating Huawei’s relationship with Skycom Tech. Co. Ltd., a company based in Iran,” Holmes said.
The banking relationship between Huawei and its subsidiaries and affiliates and HSBC, and its U.S. subsidiary, ran from at least 2007 to 2017 and involved significant billion-dollar transactions.
HSBC was also part of a syndicate of banks that loaned Huawei US$1.5 billion in July 2015.
“HSBC had run afoul of the U.S. sanctions relating to Iran and other countries before the events relating to the allegations against Ms Meng,” Holmes explained.
“It entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2012, in which it agreed not to commit further sanctions violations, as well as to undertake various remedial measures and to pay forfeitures and penalties amounting to well over a billion dollars.”
The associate chief justice said two articles published in December 2012 by Reuters associating Huawei with Skycom’s U.S.-related business dealings in Iran precipitated the charges.
The articles reported that Huawei and Skycom had “close ties” and that Skycom was one of Huawei’s “major local partners” in Iran.
They also noted Meng sat on Skycom’s board from February 2008 to April 2009, and in 2007 she was company secretary for a Huawei holding subsidiary that owned 100 per cent of Skycom’s stock, Holmes pointed out.
During a meeting in the backroom of a Hong Kong restaurant on Aug. 22, 2013, Meng assured senior HSBC representatives there was no substance to the allegations.
“Although Huawei had sold its shareholding in Skycom some years before the August 2013 meeting, and Ms. Meng had resigned from Skycom’s board, Huawei in reality continued to control Skycom and its banking and business operations in Iran,” Holmes said.
“Skycom employees had Huawei email addresses and badges and some used Huawei stationery. Skycom’s directors, and the signatories to its bank accounts, were Huawei employees … False assurances by Ms. Meng at the August 2013 meeting in Hong Kong, misrepresenting the actual relationship, are said to have put HSBC at risk of fines and penalties for violating the DPA and for new violations of the U.S. sanctions … I emphasize once again that the allegations … I have just outlined are unproven.”
Meng and Huawei have stridently denied the charges.
Holmes concluded: “Ms. Meng’s approach to the double-criminality analysis would seriously limit Canada’s ability to fulfil its international obligations in the extradition context for fraud and other economic crimes.”
Meng’s lawyers have also filed an abuse-of-process application claiming her rights were violated when she was arrested at YVR that has yet to be heard.
The Canada Border Services Agency questioned Meng for three hours as part of a “covert criminal conspiracy,” the application alleges, in a fishing expedition to gather evidence against her.
Both the RCMP and CBSA deny wrongdoing.
Eventually, Holmes will decide whether Meng should be surrendered to American authorities, but she would likely appeal.
It could take years for her case to reach the Supreme Court of Canada and even then it would not be over.
The federal justice minister has the final say on whether Meng will be extradited, a decision she would be entitled to have reviewed by the B.C. Court of Appeal.
Huawei said it was disappointed in the ruling.
“Huawei continues to stand with Ms. Meng in her pursuit for (sic) justice and freedom,” the company said in a statement.
“We expect that Canada’s judicial system will ultimately prove Ms. Meng’s innocence. Ms. Meng’s lawyers will continue to work tirelessly to see justice is served.”
At a brief hearing shortly after the decision was issued, Holmes said the extradition proceedings would resume June 3.
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