US charges Huawei with bank fraud and stealing trade secrets

The United States has formally charged Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies with a string of offences, in a move that will likely increase tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Two separate indictments have been announced, one filed in New York and another filed in Washington State, targeting the company and its CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is currently in Canada fighting extradition to the US.

The 13-count New York indictment alleges that Hauwei “misled a global bank and US authorities about its relationship with the subsidiaries, Skycom Tech and Huawei Device USA”, in order to defy US sanctions and do business with Iran, Reuters says.

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The second indictment accuses Huawei of 10 counts of stealing trade secrets, obstructing justice and wire fraud. The company is accused of stealing robotic technology from US telecommunications giant T-Mobile that is used to test the durability of mobile phones.

The company is also accused of “offering bonuses to employees who succeeded in getting technology from rivals”, Bloomberg says.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the cases “expose Huawei’s brazen and persistent actions to exploit American companies and financial institutions, and to threaten the free and fair global marketplace.”

The announcement of the charges come just days before the US and China are due to resume trade negotiations, however Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the two cases are “wholly separate” from the talks.