A legal saga that has simmered for years just took a dramatic turn in a New York federal court. A US judge ruled that prosecutors can officially use a top Huawei executive’s past admissions against the company in an upcoming criminal trial. The decision means the tech giant will have to face its own Chief Financial Officer’s words when the high-stakes bank fraud and sanctions case finally goes before a jury.
The ruling centers around Meng Wanzhou, who still serves as Huawei’s CFO and is the daughter of the company’s founder. Back in 2021, Meng entered a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve personal bank fraud charges. As part of that deal to get her charges dropped, she signed a detailed four-page statement of facts. In it, she acknowledged that she lied to a financial institution regarding Huawei’s compliance with export control laws and illegal business activities inside Iran.
The defense falls flat
Huawei’s legal team tried hard to block the government from introducing those documents into the corporate trial. Defense lawyers argued that the company was entitled to remain silent and that using the CFO’s individual statement would violate Huawei’s rights. They also pushed for the right to cross-examine Meng during the proceedings.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly flatly rejected those arguments in a filing in Brooklyn federal court. The judge pointed out that because Meng was—and remains—the active CFO, the company cannot suddenly distance itself from her professional conduct on the job. Donnelly noted that Huawei essentially adopted her actions at the time, making it entirely unnecessary to drag her to the witness stand for questioning or to throw out the evidence.
A long road to September
This complex web began making global headlines back in 2018 when Canadian authorities arrested Meng in Vancouver on a US warrant. The arrest sparked an intense geopolitical standoff, locking the CFO in a multi-year stretch of house arrest at her Canadian property while she fought extradition. The entire ordeal eventually resolved in late 2021 through a remote court appearance that allowed her to return to China.
While Meng walked away, the broader criminal case against Huawei itself never stopped plodding along. On top of the original bank fraud allegations involving HSBC, the US government has hit the telecom firm with extra charges for allegedly stealing trade secrets. The US has restricted Huawei’s access to domestic technology since 2019 over national security worries—a claim the company actively denies.
Despite the heavy tech blockades, Huawei managed to adapt by pivoting into smart vehicle components and domestic artificial intelligence development. However, this latest courtroom setback creates a massive hurdle for the legal defense. With jury selection officially locked in for September 8, Huawei’s legal team is running out of time to figure out how to counter a prosecution armed with its own CFO’s confession.
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