The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:
A 13-count indictment
was unsealed earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging
four defendants,[1] including Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
(Huawei), the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, with
headquarters in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and operations around the
world. The indicted defendants include Huawei and two Huawei affiliates —
Huawei Device USA Inc. (Huawei USA) and Skycom Tech Co. Ltd. (Skycom) — as well
as Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Wanzhou Meng (Meng).
The defendants Huawei
and Skycom are charged with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud,
wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, violations of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and conspiracy to violate IEEPA, and
conspiracy to commit money laundering. Huawei and Huawei USA are charged
with conspiracy to obstruct justice related to the grand jury investigation in
the Eastern District of New York. Meng is charged with bank fraud, wire
fraud, and conspiracies to commit bank and wire fraud.
Acting U.S. Attorney
General Matthew G. Whitaker, Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen of the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security, Secretary Wilbur Ross of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue for the Eastern District of New York, FBI
Director Christopher A. Wray, Assistant Attorney General Brian A.
Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Assistant
Attorney General John C. Demers of the National Security Division, announced
the charges.
“Today we are
announcing that we are bringing criminal charges against telecommunications
giant Huawei and its associates for nearly two dozen alleged crimes,"
said Acting Attorney General Whitaker. "As I told Chinese
officials in August, China must hold its citizens and Chinese companies
accountable for complying with the law. I’d like to thank the many
dedicated criminal investigators from several different federal agencies who
contributed to this investigation and the Department of Justice attorneys who
are moving the prosecution efforts forward. They are helping us uphold
the rule of law with integrity.”
“As charged in the
indictment, Huawei and its Chief Financial Officer broke U.S. law and have
engaged in a fraudulent financial scheme that is detrimental to the security of
the United States,” said Secretary Nielsen. “They willfully conducted
millions of dollars in transactions that were in direct violation of the
Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, and such behavior will not be
tolerated. The Department of Homeland Security is focused on preventing
nefarious actors from accessing or manipulating our financial system, and we
will ensure that legitimate economic activity is not exploited by our
adversaries. I would like to thank ICE Homeland Security Investigations
for their exceptional work on this case.”
“For years, Chinese
firms have broken our export laws and undermined sanctions, often using U.S.
financial systems to facilitate their illegal activities,” said Secretary Ross.
“This will end. The Trump Administration continues to be tougher on those
who violate our export control laws than any administration in history. I
commend the Commerce Department’s Office of Export Enforcement, and our
partners in the FBI, Justice Department, Department of Defense, and Department
of Homeland Security for their excellent work on this case.”
“As charged in the
indictment, Huawei and its subsidiaries, with the direct and personal
involvement of their executives, engaged in serious fraudulent conduct,
including conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, sanctions violations, money
laundering and the orchestrated obstruction of justice,” stated U.S. Attorney
Donoghue. “For over a decade, Huawei employed a strategy of lies and
deceit to conduct and grow its business. This Office will continue to
hold accountable companies and their executives, whether here or abroad, that
commit fraud against U.S. financial institutions and their international
counterparts and violate U.S. laws designed to maintain our national
security.” Mr. Donoghue thanked the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Department of
Commerce Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) and the Defense Criminal
Investigative Service (DCIS) agents who are investigating this case for their
tireless work and dedication.
“These charges lay
bare Huawei’s alleged blatant disregard for the laws of our country and
standard global business practices,” said FBI Director Wray. “Companies
like Huawei pose a dual threat to both our economic and national security, and
the magnitude of these charges make clear just how seriously the FBI takes this
threat. Today should serve as a warning that we will not tolerate
businesses that violate our laws, obstruct justice, or jeopardize national and
economic well-being.”
*
* * *
Overview of the
Indictment
The charges in this
case relate to a long-running scheme by Huawei, its CFO, and other employees to
deceive numerous global financial institutions and the U.S. government
regarding Huawei’s business activities in Iran. As alleged in the
indictment, beginning in 2007, Huawei employees lied about Huawei’s
relationship to a company in Iran called Skycom, falsely asserting it was not
an affiliate of Huawei. The company further claimed that Huawei had only
limited operations in Iran and that Huawei did not violate U.S. or other laws
or regulations related to Iran. Most significantly, after news
publications in late 2012 and 2013 disclosed that Huawei operated Skycom as an
unofficial affiliate in Iran and that Meng had served on the board of directors
of Skycom, Huawei employees, and in particular Meng, continued to lie to
Huawei’s banking partners about Huawei’s relationship with Skycom. They
falsely claimed that Huawei had sold its interest in Skycom to an unrelated
third party in 2007 and that Skycom was merely Huawei’s local business partner
in Iran. In reality, Skycom was Huawei’s longstanding Iranian affiliate,
and Huawei orchestrated the 2007 sale to appear as an arm’s length transaction
between two unrelated parties, when in fact Huawei actually controlled the
company that purchased Skycom.
As part of this scheme
to defraud, Meng allegedly personally made a presentation in August 2013 to an
executive of one of Huawei’s major banking partners in which she repeatedly
lied about the relationship between Huawei and Skycom.
According to the indictment,
Huawei relied on its global banking relationships for banking services that
included processing U.S.-dollar transactions through the United States.
U.S. laws and regulations generally prohibited these banks from processing
transactions related to Iran through the United States. The banks could
have faced civil or criminal penalties for processing transactions that
violated U.S. laws or regulations. Relying on the repeated
misrepresentations by Huawei, these banks continued their banking relationships
with Huawei. One bank cleared more than $100 million worth of
Skycom-related transactions through the United States between 2010 and 2014.
In furtherance of this
scheme to defraud, and as alleged in the indictment, Huawei and its principals
repeatedly lied to U.S. government authorities about Huawei’s business in Iran
in submissions to the U.S. government, and in responses to government
inquiries. For example, Huawei provided false information to the U.S.
Congress regarding whether Huawei’s business in Iran violated any U.S.
law. Similarly, as indicated in the indictment, in 2007 — months before
Huawei orchestrated the purported sale of Skycom to another Huawei-controlled
entity — Huawei’s founder falsely stated to FBI agents that Huawei did not have
any direct dealings with Iranian companies and that Huawei operated in
compliance with all U.S. export laws.
After one of Huawei’s
major global banking partners (identified as Financial Institution 1 in the
indictment) decided to exit the Huawei relationship in 2017 because of Huawei’s
risk profile, Huawei allegedly made additional misrepresentations to several of
its remaining banking partners in an effort to maintain and expand those
relationships. Huawei and its principals are alleged to have repeatedly
and falsely claimed that Huawei had decided to terminate its banking
relationship with Financial Institution 1, when in fact it was Financial
Institution 1 that had decided to terminate the banking relationship.
Through these misrepresentations, Huawei was able to continue its banking
relationships with its other banks.
In 2017, when Huawei
became aware of the government’s investigation, Huawei and its subsidiary
Huawei USA allegedly tried to obstruct the investigation by making efforts to
move witnesses with knowledge about Huawei’s Iran-based business to the PRC,
and beyond the jurisdiction of the U.S. government, and by concealing and
destroying evidence of Huawei’s Iran-based business that was located in the
United States.
In December 2018,
Canadian authorities apprehended Meng in Vancouver pursuant to a provisional
arrest warrant issued under Canadian law. The U.S. government is seeking
Meng’s extradition to the United States.
The charges in the
indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent
until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The indictment
unsealed today is assigned to U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly of the
Eastern District of New York.
The government’s
investigation is ongoing.
The investigation is
being jointly conducted by the FBI’s New York Field Office, HSI’s New York
Field Office, OEE’s New York Field Office, and DCIS’s Southwest and Northeast
Field Offices. Agents from the FBI, HSI, and OEE offices in Dallas
provided significant support and assistance. The government’s case is
being handled by the National Security and Cybercrime and Business and
Securities Fraud Sections of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern
District of New York, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Money
Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), and the Justice Department’s
National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section
(CES).
Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon, Julia Nestor, David K. Kessler, Kaitlin
Farrell, and Sarah Evans, MLARS Trial Attorneys Laura Billings and Christian
Nauvel, and CES Trial Attorneys Thea D. R. Kendler and David Lim are in charge
of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark
Penley of the Northern District of Texas, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Morris
and Brendan King of the Eastern District of New York’s Civil Division and Trial
Attorneys Andrew Finkelman and Margaret O’Malley of DOJ’s Office of
International Affairs. Additional Criminal Division and National Security
Division Trial Attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorneys within U.S. Attorney’s
Offices for the Northern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Texas, and
the Northern District of California have provided valuable assistance with
various aspects of this investigation.
The Defendants:
Huawei Technologies
Co. Ltd.
Huawei Device USA Inc.
Skycom Tech Co. Ltd.
Meng Wanzhou, also
known as “Cathy Meng” and “Sabrina Meng”
Age: 46
Age: 46
Residence: People’s
Republic Of China
E.D.N.Y. Docket No.
18-CR-457 (AMD)
[1] The indictment
charges other individuals who have not yet been apprehended and whose names
will not be publicly released at this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment