U. S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against Huawei Technologies, China’s largest technology company, alleging it stole trade secrets from American rival T-Mobile USA and…
U. S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against Huawei Technologies, China’s largest technology company, alleging it stole trade secrets from American rival T-Mobile USA and committed bank fraud by violating sanctions against doing business with Iran.
Huawei has been the target of a broad U. S. crackdown, including allegations it sold telecommunications equipment that could be used by China’s Communist Party for spying. The charges filed Monday also mark an escalation of tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which are mired in a trade war that has roiled markets.
In a 13-count indictment in Brooklyn, New York, the government alleged Huawei, two affiliated companies and Chief Financial Officer Wanzhou Meng of bank and wire fraud as well as conspiracy in connection with business in Iran.
A 10-count indictment in Washington state accused the company of stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile and offering bonuses to employees who succeeded in getting technology from rivals.
That charge builds on a 2014 civil suit by T-Mobile in which it claimed Huawei sought to replicate a cellphone-testing robot, nicknamed Tappy, that after its employees illicitly obtained parts, software and specifications from T-Mobile’s Bellevue lab.
