U.S. charges China's Huawei with conspiracy to steal U.S. trade secrets in new indictment

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post




U.S. federal prosecutors have charged Chinese tech giant Huawei with racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets in an escalation of a case that began last year. The new charges accuse Huawei and its subsidiaries of a decades-long effort to steal intellectual property from U.S. tech companies, including by offering Huawei employees bonuses for obtaining the confidential information, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said Thursday.

Huawei’s actions violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, prosecutors said. An indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn also includes new allegations about the activities of Huawei and its subsidiaries in Iran and North Korea, countries subject to sanctions by the U.S., the European Union or the United Nations. A Washington Post report last year detailed Huawei’s secret efforts to help the North Korean government build and maintain a wireless network. Huawei is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of telecom equipment and smartphones. Huawei didn’t have an immediate comment Thursday.

The new indictment represents an escalation of a case that began last year, adding to charges that Huawei allegedly stole U.S. corporations’ intellectual property. It comes as the Trump administration appears to have stumbled in its campaign to persuade foreign governments not to allow Huawei to provide equipment for 5G wireless networks.

The indictment accuses Huawei of lying about its involvement in North Korea to multinational banks that had subsidiaries in the United States. It is often illegal for banks with U.S. operations to handle transactions related to sanctioned countries.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/02/13/us-charges-chinas-huawei-with-conspiracy-steal-us-trade-secrets-new-indictment/

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Original article -

By
Jeanne Whalen
Feb. 13, 2020 at 1:55 p.m. EST

The U.S government on Thursday issued new charges against China's Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, alleging that it violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by, among other actions, offering its employees bonuses for obtaining confidential information from competitors.

The new indictment represents an escalation of a case that began last year, adding to charges that Huawei allegedly stole U.S. corporations' intellectual property. It comes as the Trump administration appears to have stumbled in its campaign to persuade foreign government's not to allow Huawei to provide equipment in their roll-out of 5G.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

[Backseat Driver]

1. Barr/Pompeo approved charges to enhance proof Huawei are "bad hombres" for the world?

From article posted by OP: "It comes as the Trump administration appears to have stumbled in its campaign to persuade foreign government’s not to allow Huawei to provide equipment in their roll-out of 5G.? How "stumbled"?

Related perhaps to: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142431918# - Who wanted what, though?

It's confusing...does this make American subsidies/discounts more legally available or less to countries no longer "developing countries" and/or just better give American corporate profit providers' bids a boost to American-listed Wall Street investors?

Backstory opinion piece I had already posted beneath that one: https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/brazils-5g-next-battleground-us-china-stand

[OnlinePoker]

2. Huawei's CFO and daughter of the founder is still in Canada fighting extradition to U.S.

Something to do with Huawei violating U.S. sanctions to Iran. I don't understand how the U.S. thinks it can tell a company in a foreign country who they can and can't trade with.

[ripcord]

3. She was trying to get US investors money

She got them to invest in a company Huawei controls that violated the sanctions. It isn't out of the realm of possibility that Huawei has stolen information, the Chinese Intelligence Law Article Seven stipulates that “any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work according to law".