A judgement on bail is expected soon for Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is being held in Vancouver, Canada on a warrant from the U.S.. She is accused of covering up company links to a firm that violated sanctions on Iran.
The lawyer for a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei says his team worked through the night to make changes to its bail plan for Meng Wanzhou to help satisfy concerns that have been raised about her release.
David Martin says they contacted four potential sources to offer sureties for Huawei’s chief financial officer and prepared affidavits after the judge and a federal prosecutor questioned whether Meng’s husband would be a suitable person to ensure she complies with any bail conditions.
Martin says one person who is proposed to offer a financial guarantee is a realtor who met Meng in 2009 and sold two properties to the couple.
The man has pledged his home, valued at $1.8 million Canadian (US$1.3 million), and says he understands he would lose it if Meng violated the conditions of her release.
Martin also read from the affidavit of another man who says he worked at Huawei in China in the mid-1990s and got to know Meng on a personal level.
He is vouching for Meng’s character to comply with any conditions imposed by the B.C. Supreme Court and has pledged $500,000 Canadian (US$373,000) from the equity on his home in Vancouver, which is valued at $1.4 million Canadian ($1 million).
Justice William Ehrcke questioned whether Liu Xiaozong could provide a surety because he is on a six-month visitor’s visa to Canada and the form to provide the financial guarantee says it must be provided by a resident of British Columbia.
The U.S. wants Meng to face allegations of fraud as it says Huawei used unofficial subsidiary Skycom to do business with Iranian telecommunications companies between 2009 and 2014 in violation of sanctions. Meng has denied the allegations through her lawyer in court, promising to fight them if she is extradited for face charges in the United States.
