By Moira Warburton
(Reuters) – Lawyers for Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou are set to continue questioning Canadian border officials on Wednesday regarding their investigation of Meng before her arrest two years ago on a warrant from the United States.
Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport by Canadian police while on a layover bound for Mexico.
She is facing charges of bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s [HWT.UL] business dealings in Iran, causing the bank to break U.S. sanctions.
Meng has said she is innocent and is fighting the extradition from under house arrest in Vancouver, where she owns a home in an upscale neighborhood in the Pacific coastal city.
Hearings this week and next week consist of witness testimony, from officials in the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, regarding their conduct during Meng’s initial investigation and arrest.
On Tuesday CBSA officer Sanjit Dhillon told the court he had received an email from an FBI official with a request for information relating to the CBSA’s investigation of Meng before her arrest, but said he did not act on the request.
Meng’s arrest has soured diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beijing. Soon after her detention, China arrested Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on espionage charges. The two men are still in detention.
Meng’s case is set to wrap up in April 2021, although the potential for appeals by either side mean the case could drag on for years.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto; Editing by Michael Perry)
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