US reportedly working on 'criminal investigation' into China's Huawei

January 17, 2019:

US federal prosecutors are reportedly working on a criminal investigation into Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Investigators are looking into whether the firm stole trade secrets from US business partners, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The Journal reported that the probe was spurred in part by civil litigation between Huawei, which makes phones and other telecom equipment, and T-Mobile. T-Mobile (TMUS) had accused Huawei of stealing information related to a robot used for testing mobile phones.

The Journal reported that the criminal probe is at an "advanced stage."

Huawei declined to comment directly on the report. But it said in a statement that the disputes with T-Mobile were settled in 2017 "following a jury verdict finding neither damage, unjust enrichment nor willful and malicious conduct for T-Mobile's trade secret claim."

The Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN Business. It declined comment to The Wall Street Journal.

The report was published one day after the reclusive founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, shrugged off allegations from Washington that Huawei is a threat to US national security.

He denied allegations from the Trump administration and US intelligence agencies that Beijing could use Huawei equipment to snoop on Americans. The company has also been prevented from supplying next-generation 5G equipment to Australia & New Zealand.

Huawei has attracted even greater scrutiny following the arrest of its chief financial officer, Ren's daughter Meng Wanzhou, last month in Canada.

She's accused by the United States of helping Huawei cover up violations of sanctions on Iran, according to Canadian prosecutors. Meng was released on bail in mid-December, setting her up for a lengthy legal fight over extradition to the United States.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry called Meng's arrest "lawless, reasonless & ruthless."

Huawei has said in a statement that the company has "every confidence that the Canadian and US legal systems will reach a just conclusion" in the case and said that the company follows all the laws and regulations where it operates.

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