Huawei CFO could soon be released from custody, allowed to return to China

Meng may be freed, but Huawei is still in hot water.

What you need to know

• Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou could soon be released from custody.
• Wanzhou has been detained in Canada for three years on charges of bank fraud.
• As per the potential agreement, Meng would not have to plead guilty to the charges.

The case against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou may soon come to a close as the U.S. Justice Department and Huawei reportedly come to an agreement to have her released from custody, sources told The New York Times.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, was detained in Canada in 2018 on behalf of the U.S. over allegations of bank fraud. She allegedly misled banks about Huwei’s dealings with Iran, although the company denies these charges.

The case against Wanzhou only exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and Huawei, which seemed to come to a head during President Trump’s time in office, blocking U.S. companies like Qualcomm and notably Google from working with the telecommunications giant.

Reports of dealings around Meng’s release arose late 2020, although it was said that Meng was reluctant to admit to any wrongdoing. However, as per the deferred prosecution agreement, Meng will admit to some wrongdoing, after which the charges against her will be dropped.

According to Reuters, the potential agreement will allow Meng to leave Canada, where she has been placed on house arrest, and return to China.

The U.S. Justice Department and Huawei were not immediately available to comment.

While this may mean an end to the drawn-out case against Meng, the agreement does not appear to bear any effect on the strained relationship between Chinese companies like Huawei and the United States. It’s recently been reported that the U.S. is considering to place Honor on the same list, despite Huawei spinning off the company into its own entity.