Canada judge rejects use of HSBC documents by Huawei CFO

Canada judge rejects use of HSBC documents by Huawei CFO

Meng Wanzhou faces bank fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC about dealings in Iran.

Meng Wanzhou’s legal team received over 300 pages of documents from HSBC through a court in Hong Kong. (AP pic)
VANCOUVER:
A Canadian judge has denied Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou’s application to add a trove of documents her legal team received from HSBC as evidence to her US extradition case, the judge announced on Friday.

Meng, 49, is facing extradition from Canada to the US on charges of bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran, potentially causing the bank to break US sanctions.

She has been held under house arrest in Vancouver since December 2018, when she was first detained.

Her legal team received over 300 pages of internal documents from HSBC through a court in Hong Kong, which the defence argued should be entered as evidence because they would disprove the basis for the US’ extradition claim.

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes, who has been overseeing the case in the British Columbia Supreme Court since its inception, disagreed. Her reasons will be released in writing in approximately 10 days, Holmes said.

“We respect the court’s ruling, but regret this outcome,” Huawei Canada said in a statement released after the ruling, insisting that the documents showed HSBC was aware of Huawei’s business dealings in Iran, proving that the US’ account of the case was “manifestly unreliable”.

The Canadian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meng is set to appear in court in early August. Her extradition hearings are scheduled to finish by the end of that month.

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