China-based telecommunications equipment company Huawei’s device subsidiary has plead not guilty in a Washington, Seattle court to charges of stealing robotic technology from U.S. telecommunications carrier T-Mobile.
This is the first court appearance that Huawei has made since the U.S. government charged the company, its global CFO Meng Wanzhou and its subsidiary Skycom, with 13 counts of bank and wire fraud charges.
Reuters reported on February 28th that the companies were “arraigned” and that a trial has been set for March 2nd, 2020.
According to prosecutors, Huawei stole information from T-Mobile between 2012 and 2014. Huawei could face fines of more than $5 million USD (roughly $6.5 million CAD).
Bloomberg reported that the court appearance happened a day before Canada’s deadline regarding the extradition hearings against Meng. Charges against her relate to deceiving banks and violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran.
Vancouver authorities arrested Meng in December. Meng is scheduled to appear in court on March 6th.
