Exclusive: New documents link Huawei to suspected front companies in Iran, Syria

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-huawei-iran-exclusive/exclusive-new-documents-link-huawei-to-suspected-front-companies-in-iran-syria-idUSKCN1P21MH

By Steve Stecklow in London, Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva and James Pomfret in 
Hong Kong. Additional reporting by Nadia El-Gowely in Cairo, and Shadia 
Nasralla and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London. Editing By Richard Woods
Reuters.com
January 8, 2019

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - The U.S. case against the chief financial officer 
of China's Huawei Technologies, who was arrested in Canada last month, centers 
on the company's suspected ties to two obscure companies. One is a telecom 
equipment seller that operated in Tehran; the other is that firm’s owner, a 
holding company registered in Mauritius.

U.S. authorities allege CFO Meng Wanzhou deceived international banks into 
clearing transactions with Iran by claiming the two companies were independent 
of Huawei, when in fact Huawei controlled them. Huawei has maintained the two 
are independent: equipment seller Skycom Tech Co Ltd and shell company Canicula 
Holdings Ltd.

But corporate filings and other documents found by Reuters in Iran and Syria 
show that Huawei, the world's largest supplier of telecommunications network 
equipment, is more closely linked to both firms than previously known.

The documents reveal that a high-level Huawei executive appears to have been 
appointed Skycom's Iran manager. They also show that at least three 
Chinese-named individuals had signing rights for both Huawei and Skycom bank 
accounts in Iran. Reuters also discovered that a Middle Eastern lawyer said 
Huawei conducted operations in Syria through Canicula.

[...]

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