Huawei CFO Expected to Plead Guilty to US Charges in Plea Deal, Reports Suggest
© Sputnik / Kirill Kallinikov / Go to the mediabankHuawei pavilion at the International Exhibition for Information and Communications Technology Sviaz - 2017 in Moscow
© Sputnik / Kirill Kallinikov
/ Subscribe
TORONTO (Sputnik) - Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is expected to plead guilty to the US charges of fraud against her and pay a fine as part of a plea deal that will see the extradition proceedings against her halted, multiple outlets reported on Friday.
Canadian state broadcaster CBC confirmed a Reuters report that Meng will plead guilty in a New York court later in the day. The US District Court for the Eastern District of New York charged Meng with fraud in late 2018.
It is expected that the extradition process against Meng - conducted in the Supreme Court of British Columbia - will be stayed pending the deal in New York, and the Huawei CFO will be set free and allowed to leave Canada.
© REUTERS / JENNIFER GAUTHIERHuawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada December 7, 2020.
Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada December 7, 2020.
© REUTERS / JENNIFER GAUTHIER
The British Columbia Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Sputnik’s request to confirm that a court hearing date has been set.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on 1 December 2018, at the Vancouver International Airport during a layover stop at the request of the US government.
The extradition hearings against the Huawei CFO concluded in August, and the presiding judge was expected to give her recommendation on the United States’ extradition request to Canada’s Attorney General and Justice Minister later in the fall.