London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

U.S. in talks with Huawei CFO Meng on resolving criminal charges

U.S. in talks with Huawei CFO Meng on resolving criminal charges

U.S. prosecutors are discussing a deal with lawyers for Huawei finance chief Meng Wanzhou to resolve criminal charges against her, a person familiar with the matter said, signaling a potential end to a case that has strained ties between the United States, China and Canada.

Negotiations between Meng's attorneys and the U.S. Justice Department picked up after the U.S. presidential election a month ago, the person said, but it is still unclear what kind of deal could be struck.

Meng, 48, was arrested in Canada in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant. She faces bank fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's business dealings in Iran, which was subject to U.S. sanctions.

Meng does not think she did anything wrong and so is reluctant to make admissions that she does not think are true, the person said. Further negotiations are expected to take place on Friday, the person said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on a possible deal. It said the case might be resolved with a "deferred prosecution agreement" under which Meng would admit to some of the allegations against her and prosecutors would defer and later drop the charges if she cooperated.

In the case, which was filed in New York, Huawei and Meng are accused of conspiring to defraud HSBC and other banks by misrepresenting Huawei's relationship with Skycom Tech Co Ltd, a suspected front company that operated in Iran.

Huawei has said Skycom was a local business partner, but U.S. prosecutors said it was an unofficial subsidiary used to conceal Huawei's Iran business.

U.S. authorities say Huawei used Skycom to obtain embargoed U.S. goods, technology and services in Iran, and to move money via the international banking system. The charges against the company include violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The source said the negotiations do not appear to be part of a larger deal with Huawei, which was hit with additional charges in the case in February, including conspiring to steal trade secrets from six U.S. technology companies.

U.S. Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi declined to comment. Huawei also declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.

'END THIS NIGHTMARE'


The Trump administration has targeted Huawei's business worldwide in an effort to thwart its ambitions to supply next generation 5G networks.

In pressuring other countries to bar Huawei from their cellular networks, the United States said it was worried its equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. The company has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Meng is due back in British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday as she fights extradition to the United States.

If she were to admit wrongdoing, the Trump administration could claim victory in a thorny dispute with China, and relieve the pressure on Canada, which has found itself in the cross fire of the U.S.-China trade war.

After Meng's arrest, China cut off imports of canola seed from Canada and detained two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, for alleged spying. They remain behind bars.

"Ottawa has been pressing Washington to try to come and help us in any way possible, and this would be a great way to end this nightmare," former Canadian ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Reuters broke news of the bank fraud charges two years ago and exclusively reported last year on how an internal HSBC probe helped lead to the charges against Huawei and Meng.

The U.S. sanctions investigation was spurred by Reuters reports more than six years ago that detailed the close ties between Huawei and Skycom.

​ U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters after Meng's arrest in 2018 that he would intervene in the case if it would serve national security interests or help close a trade deal with China. Meng's lawyers expressed concern at the time that she was a pawn.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×