. . World News – CA – U. . S.. . Working on a Deal That Will Allow Huawei Meng Wanzhou to Return to China: Reports

The U. . S.. . The Justice Department is discussing a deal with Meng Wanzhou’s attorneys that would allow the Huawei executive to return to China from Canada and avoid extradition to America. This emerges from several media reports.

The Wall Street Journal first covered the possible deferred law enforcement arrangement, citing individuals familiar with the matter and requesting anonymity to discuss an ongoing legal battle.

According to the Wall Street Journal sources, the deal would require Meng to admit some of the criminal charges against them that prosecutors would drop if Meng cooperated.

Negotiations between Meng’s lawyers and the Justice Department began after the U. S.. . According to Reuters’ source, presidential elections are still unclear what kind of deal can be struck.

Meng doesn’t believe she did anything wrong and is reluctant to make confessions she doesn’t believe are true, this person said.

The source said it doesn’t appear to be part of any bigger deal with Huawei.

Meng is wanted in the US for bank fraud charges related to U.. S.. . Sanctions against Iran that both she and tech giant Huawei deny.

She was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 on an arrest warrant from the USA and has been under house arrest in Vancouver since she and her lawyers are fighting against extradition to the U.. S.. .

Meng’s lawyers argued in B.. C.. . Supreme Court that her arrest was unlawful and ill-treated by the RCMP. They also claim political interference from the U.. . S.. . citing comments from President Donald Trump who said Meng could serve as a negotiating basis for trade negotiations with China.

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RCMP officer said he recommended meeting with CBSA about the arrest of Meng Wanzhou to avoid problems

U. . S.. . Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi declined to comment on the negotiations with Reuters. Global News has also reached out to both U. S.. . and Canadian Justice Departments for comment, but did not independently review the reports.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office and State Department had no immediate comment. Huawei also didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Meng’s case has affected Canada’s relations with China, which arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor shortly after Meng’s arrest on espionage charges. The two men remain in Chinese custody to this day, with China suggesting they could be released in exchange for Meng’s release.

Deferred law enforcement agreements are usually negotiated for businesses rather than individuals, so businesses can avoid criminal charges if penalties are significantly reduced. Typically, companies still have to plead guilty in such dealings.

In Canada, SNC-Lavalin finally signed a similar contract with the federal prosecutor’s office in 2019 that enabled the engineering giant to avoid criminal corruption charges. The company still pleaded guilty to the fraud and agreed to pay a fine of $ 280 million over a five-year period and a three-year probationary period.

Negotiations over a deferred law enforcement deal ultimately sparked the SNC-Lavalin affair, which entangled Trudeau’s government until early 2019.

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Huawei, Finance, China, US Department of Justice CFO