According to US prosecutors, investigating agencies has been conducting secret surveillance on the activities of Chinese etch giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for gathering information about it and those would be submitted as evidence in court in relation to a case related to the Chinese Technologies Co Ltd violating Iran sanctions and bank fraud.
The evidence had been gathered under the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and they would need classified handling, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Solomon at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn.
The intent of the US government to use the gathered information in court was notified to Huawei in a court filing on Thursday in which it said that the information was “obtained or derived from electronic surveillance and physical search.”
No further details were however provided.
All of the traditional allies of the United States have been pressurised by it to ban Huawei from participating in the telecom network in those countries over concerns that the equipment supplied by it for the telecom networks had back doors which would be used by Chinese agencies to spy on western countries. Washington has also accused Huawei of having very close ties with the communist government of China. All such allegations have been denied by the Chinese firm.
When there is suspicion of espionage, authorities generally use FISA surveillance, which cannot be conducted without a warrant from a special court, said Brian Frey, a former federal prosecutor who is not involved in the Huawei case.
“The reason they typically would have gotten the surveillance through a FISA court is where we suspect someone may be spying on behalf of a foreign power,” Frey said. He added that there have been concerns among the US government for years about espionage by Huawei.
Charges of conspiracy to defraud HSBC Holdings Plc and other banks through misrepresenting of the relationship between Huawei and a suspected front company that operated in Iran - Skycom Tech Co Ltd, have been brought against Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in the Brooklyn case.
Canadian authorities had arrested Meng in December at the behest of the US, she is now facing an extradition case to the US where she would be tried on the charges of bank and wire fraud as have been laid out in the indictment. She has claimed innocence and is fighting extradition.
Last month, Huawei pleaded not guilty to the 13-count indictment. There were no comments from Huawei on the latest issue.
Earlier, Huawei had identified Skycom to be a local business partner. However, US prosecutors have claimed that the company was in fact an unofficial subsidiary of Huawei which was used to hide the business deals with Iran.
Embargoed U.S. goods Skycom were obtained by Huawei suing Skycom, U.S. authorities have claimed. The company was also used to transfer money through the international banking system. Violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran are also part of the charges against the company.
(Source:www.rt.com)
The evidence had been gathered under the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and they would need classified handling, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Solomon at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn.
The intent of the US government to use the gathered information in court was notified to Huawei in a court filing on Thursday in which it said that the information was “obtained or derived from electronic surveillance and physical search.”
No further details were however provided.
All of the traditional allies of the United States have been pressurised by it to ban Huawei from participating in the telecom network in those countries over concerns that the equipment supplied by it for the telecom networks had back doors which would be used by Chinese agencies to spy on western countries. Washington has also accused Huawei of having very close ties with the communist government of China. All such allegations have been denied by the Chinese firm.
When there is suspicion of espionage, authorities generally use FISA surveillance, which cannot be conducted without a warrant from a special court, said Brian Frey, a former federal prosecutor who is not involved in the Huawei case.
“The reason they typically would have gotten the surveillance through a FISA court is where we suspect someone may be spying on behalf of a foreign power,” Frey said. He added that there have been concerns among the US government for years about espionage by Huawei.
Charges of conspiracy to defraud HSBC Holdings Plc and other banks through misrepresenting of the relationship between Huawei and a suspected front company that operated in Iran - Skycom Tech Co Ltd, have been brought against Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in the Brooklyn case.
Canadian authorities had arrested Meng in December at the behest of the US, she is now facing an extradition case to the US where she would be tried on the charges of bank and wire fraud as have been laid out in the indictment. She has claimed innocence and is fighting extradition.
Last month, Huawei pleaded not guilty to the 13-count indictment. There were no comments from Huawei on the latest issue.
Earlier, Huawei had identified Skycom to be a local business partner. However, US prosecutors have claimed that the company was in fact an unofficial subsidiary of Huawei which was used to hide the business deals with Iran.
Embargoed U.S. goods Skycom were obtained by Huawei suing Skycom, U.S. authorities have claimed. The company was also used to transfer money through the international banking system. Violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran are also part of the charges against the company.
(Source:www.rt.com)
