Meng Wanzhou waves in a cheering crowd as she steps out of a charter plane at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Sept 25, 2021. JIN LIWANG XINHUA The US Justice Department dropped all charges against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who was held by Canada on a US warrant for sanctions related to Iran for nearly three years, which strained relations not only between the US and China, but also Canada and China.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly dismissed Meng's indictment with prejudice, which means it can't be brought in court again.
Meng, daughter of Ren Zhengfei, founder of the Chinese telecoms giant, was Huawei's CFO when she was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018. She was accused of bank fraud and other crimes for misleading global bank HSBC Holdings Plc about its business in Iran to obtain banking services in violation of US sanctions.
The US asked Canada to extradite Meng in 2019 but she remained under house arrest until Donnelly approved her deferred prosecution agreement with the US.
The Justice Department said Friday that Meng had completed the period of the agreement without violating it and that the charges were fully dropped.
Meng was freed in 2021 after reaching an agreement on charges against her to be dismissed on December 1, 2022, four years from the date of her arrest in British Columbia on a US warrant.
Meng flew home to Shenzhen on the day it was approved.
During the period that Meng was held under house arrest, Washington intensified a campaign against the use of Huawei equipment in the US and allies, saying it posed deep security threats.
Huawei is still charged in the case, which is pending in the US District Court in Brooklyn, New York. A status conference is scheduled for Feb 7. There is no trial date and there isn't a trial date. It pleaded not guilty.