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Newly obtained documents show Huawei role in shipping prohibited U.S. gear to Iran

Top Stories | Apr 2, 2020:

Reuters

China’s Huawei Technologies, which for years has denied violating American trade sanctions on Iran, produced internal company records from 2010 that show it was directly involved in sending prohibited U.S. computer equipment to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator.

Two Huawei packing lists, dated December 2010, included computer equipment made by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and destined for the Iranian carrier, internal Huawei documents reviewed by Reuters show.

Another Huawei document, dated two months later, stated: “Currently the equipment is delivered to Tehran, and waiting for the custom clearance.”

The packing lists and other internal documents provide the strongest documentary evidence to date of Huawei’s involvement in alleged trade sanctions violations. They could bolster Washington’s multifaceted campaign to check the power of Huawei, the world’s leading telecommunications-equipment maker.

The United States is trying to persuade allies to avoid using Huawei equipment in their next-generation mobile telecommunications systems, known as 5G. Separately, U.S. authorities are battling Huawei on a legal front.

The newly obtained documents involve a multimillion-dollar telecommunications project in Iran that figures prominently in an ongoing criminal case Washington has brought against the Chinese company and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. The daughter of Huawei’s founder, Meng has been fighting extradition from Canada to the United States since her arrest in Vancouver in December 2018. Huawei and Meng have denied the charges, which involve bank fraud, wire fraud and other allegations.

The documents, which aren’t cited in the criminal case, provide new details about Huawei’s role in providing an Iranian telecom carrier with numerous computer servers, switches and other equipment made by HP, as well as software made by other American companies at the time, including Microsoft Corp., Symantec Corp. and Novell Inc.

A U.S. indictment alleges that Huawei and Meng participated in a fraudulent scheme to obtain prohibited U.S. goods and technology for Huawei’s Iran-based business and move money out of Iran by deceiving Western banks. The indictment accuses Huawei and Meng of surreptitiously using an “unofficial subsidiary” in Iran called Skycom Tech Co. Ltd. to obtain the prohibited goods.

“Huawei could thus attempt to claim ignorance with respect to any illegal act committed by Skycom on behalf of Huawei, including violations of” U.S. sanctions laws, the indictment states. Skycom, which Huawei has described as a local business partner in Iran, is named as a defendant. Records in Hong Kong, where Skycom was registered, show the firm was liquidated in June 2017.

The newly obtained records reviewed by Reuters show that another Chinese company, Panda International Information Technology Co., which isn’t named in the U.S. indictment, was also involved in acquiring hardware and software for the Iranian project. Panda International has long-standing ties to Huawei and is controlled by a Chinese state-owned company.

“Due to ongoing legal proceedings, it is not appropriate for Huawei to comment at this time,” a Huawei spokesman said in response to questions about the newly obtained documents. “Huawei is committed to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries and regions where we operate, including all export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, U.S., and EU.”

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