Huawei CFO to seek extradition stay citing Trump comments

VANCOUVER/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Huawei’s chief financial officer intends to seek a stay on extradition proceedings in part based on statements by President Donald Trump about the case, which her lawyers say disqualifies the United States from pursuing the matter in Canada. Meng Wanzhou, 47, the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested at Vancouver’s airport in December on a U.S. warrant and is fighting extradition on fraud charges that she misled global banks about Huawei’s relationship with a company operating in Iran. Meng’s defense lawyers said in a document that she has been unlawfully detained in Canada and that there is no evidence she misrepresented to a bank Huawei’s relationship with a company operating in Iran called Skycom, thereby putting the bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions law, or that the bank relied on her statements. The bank has been identified as HSBC. HSBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Huawei has previously said Skycom was a local business partner in Iran, while the United States maintains it was an unofficial subsidiary used to conceal Huawei’s Iran business. Meng defense lawyer Scott Fenton told the court that during her three-hour detention in December, Meng’s rights “were placed in total suspension.” The lawyers also claim Meng cannot be extradited because Canada should not extradite a person to face punishment for conduct that is not criminal in Canada. The bank and wire fraud charges do not meet that criteria because Meng is accused of encouraging HSBC to engage in transactions that violate U.S. sanctions laws. But there would be no risk of fines or forfeiture for any bank in Canada. “Put another way, the alleged offense could only exist in a country that prohibits international financial transactions in relation to Iran,” the lawyers said in court documents. “Canada is no longer such a country.” Meng will next appear in court on Sept. 23, when her defense will make more applications for more disclosure. No date has been yet set for an extradition hearing, a process that could take years. Her case has attracted global attention and sparked a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Ottawa. China has repeatedly demanded Meng’s release.

Huawei said in a statement on Wednesday that the criminal case against Meng is based on allegations that are simply not true, adding that the U.S.-ordered arrest was “guided by political considerations and tactics, not by the rule of law.” Huawei and Skycom are also defendants in the U.S. case, accused of bank and wire fraud, as well as violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Meng lawyers said comments by Trump, who told Reuters the charges against Meng could be dropped if that would help China trade talks, disqualify the United States from pursuing the case further in Canadian courts. Justice Holmes granted Meng’s request to move to a larger second mansion she owns in Vancouver, for security reasons. The relocation is sure to deepen the anger of some Canadians at the difference between her lifestyle and how two Canadians are being held in a Chinese detention center, said Paul Evans, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs.

In recent weeks, China has upped the pressure on Canada and halted Canadian canola imports and suspended the permits of two major pork producers. Meanwhile, a second Huawei Canada executive has left the company, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Meng was released from jail in December on C$10 million ($7.5 million) bail and must wear a GPS tracker, an ankle bracelet and pay for security guards. She has been living in a Vancouver home valued at C$5.6 million in 2017. She arrived at court, wearing an elegant full-length black and gray weave-pattern dress, with the ankle monitor prominently visible.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-huawei-tech/huawei-cfo-to-seek-extradition-stay-citing-trump-comments-idUSKCN1SE18G

U.S. Senate intelligence panel subpoenas Trump's son: sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed one of the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr., to answer questions about his contacts with Russia, two congressional sources said on Wednesday. The panel, which along with the Senate is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, wants to question Trump Jr. about testimony he gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2017 which was subsequently contradicted in public testimony by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, one of the sources said. The committee is one of the few in the Senate that has been conducting serious investigations related to Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has appeared before the panel at least twice.

During his Judiciary Committee appearance, the source said, Trump Jr. was asked about the extent of his involvement in a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. “Like I said, I was peripherally aware of it, but most of my knowledge has been gained since as it relates to hearing about it over the last few weeks,” Trump Jr. told the committee, according to an official transcript. In testimony before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, however, Cohen, said he briefed Trump family members “approximately 10 times” about the Moscow Trump Tower project, and that Trump Jr. and his sister Ivanka were among the family members he briefed. Cohen has also told Congress that some reimbursement checks issued to him for hush money payments to an adult film star who said she had an affair with President Trump were signed by Trump Jr, as well as the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer. Cohen this week began serving a federal prison sentence for tax evasion and campaign finance violations.

In his report on Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election in 2016, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team of prosecutors reported that there was a “reasonable argument” that Trump Jr. violated campaign finance laws. But Mueller’s team concluded they did not believe they could obtain a conviction. A lawyer for Trump Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. A Senate Intelligence Committee spokeswoman declined to discuss details of its own long-running investigation into Russia’s election interference.

Along with senior campaign adviser Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump Jr. participated in a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer who they believed had damaging information on Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent in the election. At one point, Trump Jr. sent Rob Goldstone, a publicist involved in setting up the meeting, an email declaring: “If it’s what you say, I love it …” But he later tweeted that all Veselnitskaya wanted to talk about was adoption policy and an anti-Russian U.S. sanctions law. In his report, Mueller detailed extensive contacts between Trump’s election campaign and Russian operatives, but did not find evidence of a conspiracy. Trump Jr. has used his Twitter feed to condemn the investigations and media coverage of his father, tweeting on Wednesday: “Democrats are not interested in the truth, they just want to keep the Hoax going forever. The games need to stop.” “Investigate the investigators!” he tweeted on Tuesday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-junior/u-s-senate-intelligence-panel-subpoenas-trumps-son-sources-idUSKCN1SE2O0?il=0

House intel panel chairman subpoenas Barr for Mueller probe documents

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said on Wednesday he had subpoenaed Attorney General William Barr for documents related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. In a statement, Schiff said the Justice Department had failed to respond to the committee’s request for the materials and he had set a May 15 deadline for Barr to comply with the subpoena.

Berkshire takes $377 million charge tied to solar company that U.S. linked to fraud

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Wednesday said a $377 million charge it incurred recently was tied to a solar generation company that U.S. authorities have linked to fraud. Berkshire said in its first-quarter report on Saturday it had invested $340 million in various tax equity investment funds from 2015 to 2018, before learning that federal authorities had alleged “fraudulent income conduct” by the funds’ sponsor. “We now believe that it is more likely than not that the income tax benefits that we recognized are not valid,” and took the charge for “uncertain tax positions” related to its investments, Berkshire said. Buffett’s assistant Debbie Bosanek confirmed that the charge related to DC Solar. Bloomberg News earlier reported its identity. Berkshire’s report had not identified the sponsor by name, and Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate has not been accused of wrongdoing. Lawyers for DC Solar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

DC Solar, whose products include solar generators as well as light towers that can be used at sports events, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February in Reno, Nevada. In a Feb. 8 affidavit related to those proceedings, an FBI agent said the manner in which the Benecia, California-based company appeared to have operated reflected “evidence of a Ponzi-type investment fraud scheme.” The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused DC Solar’s owners by name of engaging in a Ponzi scheme, according to a separate court filing.

Berkshire’s charge reduced first-quarter operating profit to $5.56 billion, up 5 percent from a year earlier. This year’s results excluded the impact of Berkshire’s 26.7 percent stake in Kraft Heinz Co, which has yet to report audited quarterly results. Berkshire’s $340 million investment is small relative to its $738.7 billion asset base, which includes $191.8 billion of equity investments and $114.2 billion of cash. The company also has its own renewable energy projects.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-berkshire-buffett-charge/berkshire-takes-377-million-charge-tied-to-solar-company-that-u-s-linked-to-fraud-idUSKCN1SE2LQ?il=0

Foreign businesses at Cuba tourism fair defy new Trump sanctions

HAVANA (Reuters) - Foreign companies operating in Cuba’s tourism sector said at an industry fair this week they would continue investing in the Caribbean’s largest island despite new U.S. sanctions designed to choke its already beleaguered economy. The Trump administration said last month it was tightening U.S. travel restrictions on Communist-run Cuba and allowing U.S. citizens to bring lawsuits against foreign companies profiting from property taken from them after Cuba’s 1959 revolution. The administration is seeking to pressure Cuba’s Communist government into giving up its support for embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “It’s obviously a very awkward situation but we will keep on advancing,” said Juan Antonio Montes, general director of the Spanish hotel group Barcelo, which has been based in Cuba for two decades.

Regarding the implementation of the long-dormant section of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act allowing U.S. lawsuits against companies using confiscated property, he said Barcelo would seek a legal way “to be more protected.” “But we do not have any kind of intention to leave or to modify any current plans,” he said.

The European Union and Canada, whose companies are the top investors in Cuba, particularly in the tourism and mining sectors, have denounced the Trump administration’s implementation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. They say it is not valid under international law and their companies could dispose of blocking legislation, for example, to make counterclaims for any U.S. suits they may face. “Our aim is to keep investing in Cuba and for our companies to have the willingness to contribute to the development of the island,” Spain’s tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, said at the opening of Cuba’s tourism fair on Tuesday.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who replaced Raul Castro last year, met on Tuesday with foreign businessmen, including the head of Canadian mining company Sherritt, to reassure them about the security of their investments under Cuban law. Cuba has sought to attract foreign capital ever since the fall of former benefactor the Soviet Union, hoping it could help vitalize its beleaguered, still heavily centralized economy. “This was an important sign for all companies working in Cuba,” said Alessandro Benedetti, an executive for Swiss-based Kempinski Hotels SA, which runs the luxury Gran Hotel Manzana in Havana, which opened in 2017.

Cruise operator Carnival Corp became the first company sued for profiting from expropriated Cuban property last week under Title III of Helms-Burton by U.S. citizens who hold titles to the Santiago de Cuba and Havana ports. The ports are used by numerous U.S. cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines, which therefore could also face suits.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-tourism/foreign-businesses-at-cuba-tourism-fair-defy-new-trump-sanctions-idUSKCN1SE2NU?il=0

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