Extradition case of Meng Wanzhou
On December 1, 2018, Meng Wanzhou, the board deputy chairperson and daughter of the founder of the Chinese multinational technology corporation Huawei, was detained upon arrival at Vancouver International Airport by Canada Border Services Agency officers for questioning, which lasted three hours. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police subsequently arrested her on a provisional U.S. extradition request for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in order to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran. On January 28, 2019, the United States Department of Justice formally announced financial fraud charges against Meng. The first stage of the extradition hearing for Meng began Monday, January 20, 2020, and concluded on May 27, 2020, when the Supreme Court of British Columbia ordered the extradition to proceed.
During the extradition courtroom proceedings, Meng's lawyers made several allegations against the prosecution, including allegations of unlawful detention of Meng, unlawful search and seizure, extradition law violations, misrepresentation, international law violation, and fabricated testimonies by the CBSA, each of which were responded to by the prosecution. In August 2021, the extradition judge questioned the regularity of the case and expressed great difficulty in understanding how the Record of Case presented by the US supported their allegation of criminality.
On September 24, 2021, the Department of Justice announced it had reached a deal with Meng to resolve the case through a deferred prosecution agreement. As part of the deal, Meng agreed to a statement of facts that said she had made untrue statements to HSBC to enable transactions in the United States, at least some of which supported Huawei's work in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, but did not have to pay a fine nor plead guilty to her key charges. The Department of Justice said it would move to dismiss all charges against Meng when the deferral period ends on 21 December 2022, on the condition that Meng is not charged with a crime before then. Meng was released from house arrest and left Canada for China on September 24, 2021; hours after news of the deal, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, two Canadian citizens whose arrest in mainland China were widely seen as retaliation for Meng's arrest in Canada, were released from detention in China and flown back to Canada. On December 2, 2022, the presiding judge dismissed the charges against Meng following the United States government's request.
Detention
Arrest and allegations
On December 1, 2018, while transferring planes at Vancouver International Airport en route to Mexico from Hong Kong, Meng was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the request of the United States, pursuant to the extradition treaty between Canada and the United States. On December 7, it was revealed that an arrest warrant had been issued on August 22, 2018, by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. According to Crown counsel in Canadian court, Meng was "charged with conspiracy to defraud multiple international institutions." The warrant was based on allegations that Wanzhou had cleared money that was claimed to be for Huawei, but was actually for Skycom, an entity claimed to be entirely controlled by Huawei, which was said to be dealing with Iran, contrary to sanctions. According to the defence lawyer, the bank involved in the dealings was HSBC. The allegations were rejected by Meng's defence lawyer, who claimed she did not break any U.S. or Canadian laws, and that the US had deliberately omitted key information on two PowerPoint slides that showed that Meng was upfront to HSBC about the true nature of the Skycom/Huawei relationship. The Crown counsel said that the case against Meng stemmed from a 2013 Reuters report about the company's close ties to Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech, which attempted to sell U.S. equipment to Iran, despite U.S. and European Union bans.Bail
From December 7 to 11, Meng attended a bail hearing in Vancouver. She was released on a $10 million bail that was granted with conditions, including electronic surveillance. She was required to hand over her passports, of which seven were listed in her court records. Of the seven, 4 were from China, and 3 were from Hong Kong. A further Chinese passport whose serial number begins with "P" was not listed but was later discovered; these passports are normally issued to employees of the Chinese government for travel related to public affairs. The Hong Kong government stated that "Any holder, therefore, shall be not in possession of more than one valid HKSAR passport at any time."However, Mr Justice William Ehrcke dismissed suggestions that Meng held multiple valid travel documents from the city. Only two legitimate passports were in her possession – one issued by mainland China and one from Hong Kong – he said on Wednesday morning Hong Kong time.
Formal extradition request
Under Canada's Extradition Act, the deadline for the U.S. to request extradition was January 30, 2019 ; on January 28, the Department of Justice Canada confirmed that the U.S. had formally requested Meng's extradition. The Canadian government had until March 1, 2019, to decide whether to authorize an extradition hearing.Also on January 28, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other officials released a redacted version of an indictment filed January 24, 2019, against Meng personally as well as three corporate entities and at least one other person whose name was redacted. Meng was charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracies to commit bank and wire fraud. The same day, the U.S. government announced a different indictment against Huawei relating to theft of trade secrets; but that does not pertain to Meng personally.
Formal commencement of extradition process
On March 1, 2019, the Department of Justice Canada issued an Authority to Proceed, which formally commenced an extradition process in the case.On March 3, 2019, Meng's lawyers announced that they had filed a lawsuit against the Canadian federal government, the RCMP, and the Canada Border Services Agency. The suit, filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court, alleges that Meng had been detained, searched, and interrogated by CBSA agents before being informed that she was under arrest. The civil claim, which names three "John Doe" CBSA officers, an RCMP constable, and the Attorney General of Canada as defendants, was issued on March 1, 2019.
On March 6, 2019, Meng had a brief appearance in court where one of her lawyers, Richard Peck, claimed that the defence would be making a number of interlocutory applications to be heard before the hearing could begin. There was heavy interest in the Vancouver court appearance, with a long line of people unable to get in to the small, packed courtroom. The court's media accreditation committee was inundated with requests from reporters around the world. Outside the courthouse, protestors demonstrating against the Chinese government showed photographs of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, two Canadians detained in China, and one protestor burned a Chinese flag.
On May 8, 2019, Meng appeared before court. Her legal team claimed the Canadian government is withholding key evidence relevant to how and why Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport, which may have been in violation of her constitutional rights at the outset of an American extradition process. During the session, Meng's defence argued "her case should be tossed anyway because: her arrest was an abuse of process; the fraud charge she is facing in the United States is for a crime that doesn't exist in Canada; and the U.S. government's extradition request represents an 'abuse of power. Defence lawyer Scott Fenton described U.S. President Donald Trump's comments suggesting Meng could be part of a trade deal with China as "intimidating and corrosive of the rule of law." The court ruled that Crown prosecutors must defend the level of evidence that they have so far disclosed relating to Meng's initial detention by the CBSA and subsequent arrest by the RCMP, and that Meng may move to her second Vancouver property. Her next court appearance was scheduled for September 23, 2019.
On June 10, 2019, months of appearances and submission deadlines were agreed to at a management hearing which Meng did not attend. Meng's lawyers argued that the alleged fraud levelled against Meng does not meet the requirements of double criminality, since it is based on a breach of U.S. sanctions on Iran that do not apply in Canada. Crown prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley argued against an early ruling on the issue of double criminality, saying it was wrong to separate it from the overall extradition ruling. Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes questioned the rationale behind delaying settling the double criminality issue. Holmes set aside an early portion of the committal proceedings specifically to address the issue of double criminality.
Courtroom arguments and proceedings
Weighing of Responsibility
In August 2021, Associate Chief Justice Holmes at an extradition hearing, asked whether it was reasonable for HSBC, a large bank with risk committees to rely on a single individual's assurance about companies that are not under its control. She expressed skepticism that HSBC bank could have been put at risk by Meng's PowerPoint presentation when the bank had already been well aware of the Reuters reports. She stated that in order for fraud to occur, the bank needs to be first put at risk from a misrepresentation.Allegations of unlawful detention
Meng's defence team alleged that the process of detention of Meng Wanzhou was an unlawful conspiracy between the two agencies. Her defence team claimed that the RCMP and CBSA colluded to detain her under an immigration check without immediately informing her of her arrest, and subsequently arresting her three hours later, which amounted to a conspiracy. The defence claimed this manner of arrest was unlawful as the warrant called for her immediate arrest, and had violated Section 10 of the Charter requiring Meng to be immediately informed of her charges upon arrest. The defence argues that questions asked during the three hour period, which included her business dealings with Iran, and the CBSA officers omitting to take notes during certain sections of the questioning are evidence of a conspiracy and an unlawful arrest. The Crown Attorney responded that there was nothing unlawful or sinister about the customs detention for questioning and subsequent formal arrest, and that this process did not violate Section 10 rules.The Attorney General offered to return the devices seized from Meng on the condition that her defence accepts the assertion that neither the Mounties or the CBSA searched them. If her defence does not accept the offer, they will have to seek a court order to have the devices forensically analyzed to determine if they were searched or not. Forensic analysis of the devices shows they were not searched; according to defence lawyer Scott Fenton, the evidence showed several of them were turned on and at least one was connected to the internet.
The Crown prosecutors described the defence's argument of a conspiracy and unlawful detention as a "fishing" expedition, and that the CBSA was only going through proper processing of Meng's entry into Canada, which was not a foregone conclusion. Defence lawyer Scott Fenton described this as "absurd," since "she was never going to be returned to Hong Kong or not allowed into Canada," adding that "in no universe of possibilities was Ms. Meng going to be turned away."
Crown lawyer Robert Frater said there is "nothing to" the allegations that the RCMP and CBSA ignored their legal obligations and that their actions during the arrest of Meng were "not at all sinister." He described the defence's allegations as a non-existent conspiracy. Meng's lawyers questioned why Meng was questioned about business in Iran by the CBSA, to which Frater responded that they must question about a traveller's alleged criminal behavior. Justice Heather Holmes asked what would have happened had Meng admitted to criminality during the interview. Frater replied, "He would make a decision about admissibility," The defence added that the CBSA did not finish Meng's admissibility examination before it was suspended and the RCMP arrested her. Crown lawyer Diba Majzub notes that even if a traveller were deemed inadmissible, the RCMP could still execute an arrest on the person while in detention or released with conditions pending a hearing.