Huawei exec's disclosure application a 'fishing expedition': Crown
Credit to Author: Keith Fraser| Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2019 04:35:40 +0000
A disclosure application by Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou amounts to nothing more than a “fishing expedition,” say lawyers for the federal government.
Meng, who was arrested at the Vancouver airport on Dec. 1 last year and is being sought for extradition to the U.S. to face fraud charges, has filed an application seeking more disclosure that she hopes will prove her allegation that there was an abuse of process in her case and that Canadian and U.S. authorities engaged in misconduct.
In her application, the chief financial officer of Huawei claims that the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) were acting as agents for the FBI for the purpose of obtaining and preserving evidence following her arrest.
She says the alleged misconduct includes the filing of a misleading affidavit by the RCMP to obtain a court order for the arrest and allegedly disobeying the order requiring that she be immediately taken into custody following her arrival at the airport.
The daughter of the company’s billionaire founder also claims that there was an attempt to conceal the misconduct through misleading notes and declarations that have been released.
The disclosure sought includes all “pertinent” notes, emails, texts, reports and memoranda of the RCMP, CBSA, ministry of justice and the federal government.
It also includes all communications between the U.S. Attorney’s office and other U.S. law enforcement, including the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as communications with the RCMP and CBSA.
Meng’s lawyers claim that she was arbitrarily detained for three hours at the airport and compelled to hand over her electronic devices and passcodes. They say that the court order required that officials arrest her immediately.
In court Monday, Meng’s lawyer Richard Peck began what is expected to be several days of submissions on the disclosure application.
At the same time, the Crown, which is acting on behalf of U.S. authorities, released to the public its written submissions on the application which deny any misconduct on the part of U.S. and Canadian authorities and take aim at the application itself.
Government lawyers, noting that the extradition case relates to Meng allegedly misrepresenting facts to a bank regarding Huawei’s business dealings in Iran resulting in HSBC extending US$900 million of credit to the Chinese tech giant, say that the disclosure application does not relate directly to those allegations.
Instead, Meng seeks to obtain documents in a bid to show that the RCMP and CBSA engaged in improper communications with U.S. officials leading to actions amounting to an abuse of process, says the Crown.
To obtain the disclosure, Meng must prove there is an “air of reality” to the allegations, but the Crown says there is no evidence to back up her claims.
“There is no evidence the CBSA or RCMP acted improperly, much less abusively,” says the 54-page Crown document. “The applicant has also failed to demonstrate that her allegations could justify the draconian remedy of a stay of proceedings.
“There is no evidence that the conduct of officials, either Canadian or foreign, has compromised the fairness of the extradition proceedings or tainted the proceedings in any other manner such that a stay would be required.”
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou leaves her disclosure application hearing at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019.
The Crown says that it has already made extensive disclosure to Meng and that the additional disclosure being sought is either not relevant to a material fact or is privileged.
“This application can only be characterized as a fishing expedition for materials she hopes will reveal the speculative conspiracy she alleges,” says the Crown response. “Courts have repeatedly held that fishing expeditions are not permitted when an applicant seeks disclosure in extradition.”
The disclosure application is being heard in advance of the actual extradition hearing, which is expected to get under way in January.
The arrest touched off an international furor, as the Chinese government claimed that Meng’s human rights were being violated and Canadian officials responded by saying that they were merely following extradition protocols.
It came amidst a trade war between China and the U.S. and has resulted in Beijing taking several actions including what some critics have said are retaliatory arrests of several Canadian citizens and blocking imports of canola seeds, pork and beef from Canada.
Meng, who is expected to appear in court for the proceedings, remains out on $10-million bail and is living in one of her two Vancouver homes.
She appeared relaxed during her court appearance Monday, chatting amiably with several women outside court as she awaited the start of the proceedings.
The U.S. alleges that Meng participated in a scheme to circumvent U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. She has been charged with multiple counts of mail and wire fraud and, if convicted, faces a lengthy jail term. Meng and Huawei have denied the allegations.