The US Department of Justice has entered talks with the legal representation of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou over a deal that could potentially lead to her release.
Meng has been detained in Canada since 2018, and faces accusations of bank fraud and violating trade sanctions that the US had imposed on Iran. Both Meng and Huawei have consistently denied the allegations, and the CFO has been fighting extradition to the US.
The Wall Street Journal has now reported that the DoJ and Meng’s lawyers are discussing the possible terms of a deferred prosecution agreement. This would involve Meng admitting to some of the charges on the understanding that they would be deferred and eventually dropped, subject to her continued cooperation.
This would bring an end to Meng’s two-year ordeal and allow her to return to China, but the terms may yet prove unpalatable to her – several sources have noted she is reluctant to withdraw her claims of innocence.
