US charges against Huawei: what you need to know



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In indictments released Monday night, US prosecutors are accusing Huawei's employees, executives and even the founder of lying to government officials and business partners on behalf of Chinese society on several occasions. The documents describe in detail a so-called ploy to pay employees to steal trade secrets.

Huawei said in a statement that he was disappointed to learn the charges against the company.

"The company denies having denied any of the alleged violations of US law set out in each of the indictments, as well as its subsidiary or subsidiary," the statement said.

Here are some of the most striking allegations of US court documents.

1. The founder of Huawei lied to the FBI

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, who has played a leading role in defending the company in recent weeks, has repeatedly lied about his trade relations in Iran, US prosecutors said.

Ren told the FBI agents in 2007 that Huawei had complied with all US export laws and had not directly dealt with any Iranian company, according to one of the acts of # 39; accusation. Ren added that he thought Huawei had sold equipment to a third party, possibly to Egypt, who then sold it to Iran.

US unveils criminal case against Huawei, alleging Chinese giant has stolen trade secrets and violated sanctions on Iran

According to prosecutors, Huawei used an unofficial subsidiary in Iran to obtain banned products, technologies and services from the United States for its official activities based in Iran.

Huawei falsely claimed that the unofficial subsidiary, Skycom, was a separate company with the aim of claiming that she was unaware of any activity likely to circumvent the penalties, according to the report. indictment. He accuses Huawei of misleading banks operating in the United States and US government officials about the nature of his relationship with Skycom.

Ren told reporters earlier this month that Huawei "must comply with all laws and regulations in force in the countries where we operate."

The United States' allegations against Ren will make it dangerous for the billionaire tech tycoon to visit the United States or any country with which an extradition treaty has been concluded. If he did, he could face the same fate as his daughter, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, who was arrested in Canada last month.

The United States officially requested the extradition of Meng on Tuesday. His next appearance in Vancouver is March 6.

2. Bonus for employees who stole trade secrets

US prosecutors said Huawei had implemented a policy that granted bonuses to employees who successfully stole confidential information from their competitors.

According to one of the indictments, employees have released the trade secrets of rival companies on an internal website of Huawei. If the information was particularly sensitive, they would send encrypted emails in a special inbox.

"A" competition management group "was charged with reviewing the bids and badigning monthly bonuses to employees who provided the most valuable stolen information," said the act. # 39; accusation. Twice a year, the top three regions providing the most valuable stolen information would also benefit from bonuses.

The theft of trade secrets is a key problem in the trade dispute between the United States and China. The Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to suppress Chinese economic espionage.

According to the US indictment, Huawei's US operations human resources director attempted to terminate the bonus scheme, writing an e-mail to all US-based employees that "such behavior is expressly prohibited by [Huawei USA’s] policies. "

3. The "local" team lobbied his colleagues for them to fly

In addition to a financial incentive, Huawei's employees would have been under enormous pressure to obtain trade secrets.

Prosecutors say Huawei has worked for years to steal T-Mobile (TMUS) proprietary telephone test technology, known as "Tappy". Huawei being one of T-Mobile's suppliers, the US carrier had agreed to give Huawei's engineers access to its telephone test system.
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The court documents detail several e-mails where Huawei employees in China have told colleagues in the United States to send specific details about Tappy, including: the serial numbers of the parts, the hardware and software specifications and the speed of the mechanical arm of the device.

Huawei, at the time, was developing a similar robot, but it was late compared to that of T-Mobile, according to the indictment.

US employees did what they were told, but repeatedly told their Chinese counterparts that T-Mobile was becoming suspicious and had installed a camera in the room housing Tappy, court documents said. They suggested that Huawei send to the United States an engineer who might perhaps better understand the T-Mobile device after "playing" with it.

Huawei acted this way and soon after, one of the American employees put Tappy's arm in a bag and kept it all night. The engineer was able to take detailed measurements and numerous photographs of the robot arm, sending them by email to Huawei's engineers in China. He also sent an explanation on how the parts of the device were configured together.

After discovering the alleged theft, T-Mobile revoked the engineer's badge and did not allow Huawei's employees to access Tappy without the presence of a T-Mobile employee.

4. US investigators had access to Meng Wanzhou's electronic device

Prosecutors allege that Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, was part of a decade-long plot to evade US sanctions against Iran and fool congressional and US investigators. .

The court documents accuse Meng of lying to the banks about Huawei's business activities in Iran. In 2013, for example, she allegedly made a presentation to a bank official in which she allegedly misrepresented Huawei's compliance with the US sanctions imposed on Iran and its relationship with a subsidiary operating in Iran.

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A few months later, Meng went to the United States, says the indictment. When she arrived at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, investigators found arguments for meeting with the bank official about an "electronic device" that Meng was wearing.

The file appeared to have been deleted, according to court documents.

No details were given on how the investigators accessed Meng's device. JFK airport is under district jurisdiction where criminal charges have been filed against Meng and Huawei.

A Meng lawyer said Tuesday that she was "an honest and honorable businesswoman who has never spent a second of her life plotting to violate US law, including Iranian sanctions. ".

The lawyer, Reid Weingarten, said in a statement issued by Huawei that Meng "should not be a pawn or a hostage" in the US-China relationship.

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