Extradition case of Meng Wanzhou

Meng Wanzhou during her house arrest in Vancouver in 2021

On December 1, 2018, Meng Wanzhou, the board deputy chairperson and daughter of the founder of the Chinese multinational technology corporation Huawei, was detained upon arrival at Vancouver International Airport by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers for questioning, which lasted three hours.[1][2] The Royal Canadian Mounted Police subsequently arrested her on a provisional U.S. extradition request for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in order to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran.[1][3] On January 28, 2019, the United States Department of Justice formally announced financial fraud charges against Meng.[4][5] The first stage of the extradition hearing for Meng began Monday, January 20, 2020, and concluded on May 27, 2020, when the Supreme Court of British Columbia ordered the extradition to proceed.[6][7]

During the extradition courtroom proceedings, Meng's lawyers made several allegations against the prosecution, including allegations of unlawful detention of Meng,[8] unlawful search and seizure,[9] extradition law violations,[10] misrepresentation,[11][12][13] international law violation,[14] and fabricated testimonies by the CBSA,[15] each of which were responded to by the prosecution.[16][17][18][19] In August 2021, the extradition judge questioned the regularity of the case and expressed great difficulty in understanding how the Record of Case (ROC) presented by the US supported their allegation of criminality.[20][21][22]

On September 24, 2021, the Department of Justice announced it had reached a deal with Meng to resolve the case through a deferred prosecution agreement. As part of the deal, Meng agreed to a statement of facts that said she had made untrue statements to HSBC to enable transactions in the United States, at least some of which supported Huawei's work in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, but did not have to pay a fine nor plead guilty to her key charges.[23][24][25] The Department of Justice said it would move to dismiss all charges against Meng when the deferral period ends on 21 December 2022, on the condition that Meng is not charged with a crime before then.[26] Meng was released from house arrest and left Canada for China on September 24, 2021; hours after news of the deal, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, two Canadian citizens whose arrest in mainland China were widely seen as retaliation for Meng's arrest in Canada, were released from detention in China and flown back to Canada.[27] On December 2, 2022, the presiding judge dismissed the charges against Meng following the United States government's request.[28]

  1. ^ a b Chiang, Chuck. December 24, 2019. "Year in review: Could Meng Wanzhou arrest cause permanent Canada-China rift? Archived 2020-01-06 at the Wayback Machine" Tri-City News. Vancouver: Business in Vancouver. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  2. ^ The Canadian Press. May 27, 2020. "Five things to know about the Meng Wanzhou extradition case [to-know-about-the-meng-wanzhou-extradition-case-1.24142203 Archived 2020-06-06 at the Wayback Machine." Vancouver Courier.
  3. ^ Horowitz, Julia (December 6, 2018). "Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou arrested in Canada, faces extradition to United States". CNN Business. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Lynch, Sarah (January 28, 2019). "U.S. unseals indictments against China's Huawei and CFO Meng Wanzhou". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  5. ^ Martell, Allison; Mehler Paperny, Anna (January 10, 2020). "Canadian prosecutors say case against Huawei CFO is about fraud, not sanctions". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  6. ^ "United States v Meng, 2020 BCSC 785". www.bccourts.ca. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  7. ^ Proctor, Jason (May 27, 2020). "Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou loses key court battle as B.C. judge rules extradition bid should proceed". CBC. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  8. ^ "Nothing 'routine' about Meng Wanzhou's treatment at Vancouver airport: Defence". Vancouver Sun. September 24, 2019. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  9. ^ Wanyee Li (August 22, 2019). "Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou's allegations against officials could derail extradition, legal experts say". The Star. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "RCMP gave FBI serial numbers, other details about Meng Wanzhou's phones, defence claims". thestar.com. October 3, 2019. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  11. ^ "HSBC material shows US made 'outright false' claims, Meng lawyer argues". June 30, 2021. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  12. ^ Miller, Harry (October 30, 2020). "Meng Wanzhou scores victory as lawyers allowed to argue U.S. tried to trick Canada – CBC.ca". Canada News Media. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  13. ^ "Meng Wanzhou: The PowerPoint that sparked an international row". www.bbc.com. September 27, 2020. Archived from the original on June 8, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  14. ^ "Meng Wanzhou's lawyers claim extradition would violate international law". CBC. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  15. ^ "Meng's lawyer accuses Canadian officer of fabricating extradition testimony". March 19, 2021. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  16. ^ Karen Freifeld (September 23, 2019). "Canada says border officials did not act improperly when arresting Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  17. ^ "Judge in Meng Wanzhou case orders RCMP and CBSA to disclose more documents". Vancouver Sun. December 10, 2019. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Crown accuses Meng Wanzhou's lawyers of trying to turn extradition into a trial". CBC. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  19. ^ "Meng Wanzhou lawyers attack 'unprecedented' refusal of key RCMP witness to testify | CBC News". Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  20. ^ Smart, Amy (August 12, 2021). "Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou's extradition judge suggests case is 'unusual'". British Columbia. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  21. ^ Fine, Sean (August 11, 2021). "Judge in Meng Wanzhou's extradition case says U.S. Allegation is unclear". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  22. ^ "Canada, China and US were all doomed to lose in Meng Wanzhou's case". the Guardian. September 24, 2021. Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  23. ^ Fife, Robert; Chase, Steven (September 24, 2021). "Meng Wanzhou free to return to China after cutting plea deal with U.S. Justice Department". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  24. ^ "Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, Canadians detained in China since 2018, are 'on their way home': Trudeau". calgaryherald. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  25. ^ Lawler, Richard (September 24, 2021). "US agrees not to pursue fraud charges against Huawei CFO". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  26. ^ Jacobs, Colleta. "Meng Wanzhou reaches deal in Huawei espionage case that will allow her to return to China, lawyer says". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021. "Huawei's Meng Wanzhou to be freed in US deal". BBC News. September 24, 2021. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  27. ^ Freifeld, Karen; Li, Kenneth; Warburton, Moira; Ljunggren, David (September 27, 2021). "Huawei CFO leaves Canada after U.S. Agreement on fraud charges, detained Canadians head home". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  28. ^ Chen, Shawna (December 3, 2022). "Federal judge dismisses financial fraud charges against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou". Axios. Retrieved January 29, 2023.