Huawei’s chief financial officer will be released on $10 million bail — with five guarantors — as she awaits possible extradition to the United States on fraud charges, a B.C. Supreme Court justice has ruled.
Meng Wanzhou, 46, was granted bail after three days of hearings concluded on Tuesday afternoon.
In delivering his reasons for granting the bail, Justice William Ehrcke said $7 million of that bail payment must be made in cash.
Meng must also report to a bail supervisor, maintain good behaviour, live at a house owned by her husband, Liu Xiaozong, and stay in that house between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
She will not be allowed to leave the province of B.C.
She must also surrender her passports, wear an electronic monitoring bracelet on her ankle and live under surveillance 24/7. Meng has been ordered to pay the surveillance costs herself.
After Ehrcke finished reading his reasons for granting bail, Meng turned to smile and wave at her husband sitting in the front row. He’d been sitting hunched over with his chin in his hands as the judge spoke.
Bail rules ‘offset risk’ of flight: judge
Ehrcke said the “sole question” he had to consider was whether bail terms proposed by Meng’s legal team were enough to “offset the risk” of her fleeing Canada.
He told the courtroom he believed “the risk of her non-attendance in court can be reduced to an acceptable level” under the bail conditions.
The decision, which prompted an eruption of applause from the packed courtroom gallery, comes after a back and forth between Meng’s lawyers and Canadian prosecutors acting on behalf of the U.S.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s multi-billionaire founder, was detained in Vancouver on fraud charges at the request of U.S. authorities more than a week ago. She was arrested at Vancouver International Airport on her way from Hong Kong to Mexico.
Huawei is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of network gear for phone and internet companies, with partnerships with various Canadian universities as well as BCE and Telus. Its 2017 annual report said it brought in more than $90 billion US in revenue.
The extradition process could take months. Meng is scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 6 to set a date for those proceedings.
Fleeing would embarrass China: lawyer
The first two days of Meng’s bail hearing were a back-and-forth argument over how — or if — the court could be assured Meng wouldn’t flee if released on bail.
Martin presented his client as a person of sound character who could be trusted to remain in Canada, since it would embarrass China if she fled. He also pitched an in-depth surveillance program that Meng would pay for herself.
Martin has also said that Meng’s husband would pledge a total of $15 million — including the value of two Vancouver homes and $1 million in cash — and live with her to ensure she obeys court conditions. Justice Ehrcke questioned his suitability as a guarantor because he isn’t a B.C. resident.
John Gibb-Carsley, a federal prosecutor representing Canada’s attorney general, had asked the judge to deny Meng’s request for bail, saying she has more than enough money to leave Canada and has no meaningful connection to Vancouver.
Gibb-Carsley, acting for the U.S., questioned the ability of four friends to act as sureties and asked that Liu be excluded as an option altogether. The lawyer said Liu’s interests were “too aligned” with Meng’s; if she wanted to bolt, the lawyer said, “he would go” with her.
Meng smiled and laughed with a member of her legal team after she entered the courtroom Tuesday morning, wearing the same green correctional centre sweatsuit she’s worn to all her appearances.
Liu was seated directly behind the glass prisoner’s box, wearing a grey sweater and flanked by Huawei employees. The rest of the courtroom was packed with family and international media, with hordes of people waiting in the hallways for an update.
The U.S. has accused Meng of repeatedly lying to financial institutions about the relationship between Huawei and a company called Skycom, which it says did business in Iran in violation of international sanctions.
She was being held on a provisional warrant. U.S. authorities have 60 days to make an extradition request and, as of Tuesday, have not done so.
Meng’s father Ren Zhengfei is said to be worth $3.2 billion US. She serves as deputy chair of the company’s board and served on the board of Skycom in 2008 and 2009.
Meng’s case has rattled international financial markets and threatened the fragile trading relationship between the U.S. and China. The B.C. government has already suspended at least one planned meeting in China in light of the executive’s arrest.
Hours before Tuesday’s hearing, news broke that a former Canadian diplomat — who worked as a political lead for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to Hong Kong in 2016 — had reportedly been arrested in China.
News of Michael Kovrig’s detention comes after China warned Canada of “consequences” for Meng’s arrest — but it’s not clear if there is any link between the two cases.
Earlier Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s top representative in Canada, Ambassador Kelly Craft, dismissed Chinese claims of a political motive behind Meng’s arrest as “absolutely false.”
（中央社記者胡玉立多倫多11日專電）華為財務長孟晚舟保釋案，卑詩省最高法院法官決定孟晚舟交保候傳。保釋金為1000萬加幣（約合新台幣2億3000萬元）。孟晚舟必須交出護照、留在卑詩省、接受24小時保全。
法官還要求孟晚舟必須在2019年2月6日返回法庭，以確定訴訟程序的進一步日期。此外，美國政府須在60天之內提出正式引渡請求。若美方未提交，孟晚舟必須被釋放。孟晚舟在庭上獲知交保後，拭淚、微笑向丈夫劉曉棕揮手。
法官提出以下保釋條件：提供電話及手機號碼，向監管人報告，留在卑詩省，住在溫哥華28大道4005號。晚上11時到早上6時留在家中不外出。交出護照，由獅子門保全公司（Lions Gate Risk Management）提供24小時保安。若不遵守，保全公司可將她拘留、逮捕。必須配合配戴手腳電子監控環，支付所有保全服務費用。
此外，若任何時候不在家，須隨身攜帶擔保書副本。必要時必須出庭，必要時必須交出監護權。保釋後，將被禁止前往位在列治文（Richmond）的溫哥華機場。
法官並感謝檢辯雙方提供的法律意見，「我相信每個人都同意，這是一起不尋常的案子」。
由於檢方在昨天的保釋聽證會中，堅持保釋擔保人不能由孟晚舟的丈夫劉曉棕擔任，孟晚舟律師今天一開庭即表示，在加拿大另外還有四組人選願為孟晚舟的擔保人。
他們分別是孟晚舟及劉曉棕在加拿大的房屋仲介羅伯．鄭（Robert Cheng）、孟晚舟的昔日同事Lee Lin與Ken Louie、昔日同事妻子Lee Shi，以及鄰居彭女士。
Robert Cheng願意拿出自己價值180萬加幣的住家做擔保，他提出證詞說：「我不相信孟晚舟會犧牲我的房產、破壞保釋協議。」
Lee Lin與Ken Louie兩人和孟晚舟早自1990年結識，他們將各別拿出自己房產淨值的50萬加幣做擔保。兩人的房屋市值140萬加幣。
家庭主婦Lee Shi願拿出她在溫哥華市值600萬加幣的85萬元房產淨值做擔保，她的丈夫以前曾與孟晚舟共事。
彭女士則是孟晚舟和劉曉棕位於溫哥華28大道住宅的鄰居，這名瑜伽老師提到劉曉棕父母每年都會來加拿大住4到6個月，因此與孟一家均熟識，她並當庭拿出退休儲蓄5萬元加幣。
儘管辯方強調，劉曉棕的中國護照在2024年到期前，他的加拿大簽證可不斷展延以持續住在加拿大，故可作為擔任孟晚舟的保釋擔保人，但檢方律師吉布卡斯里（John Gibb-Carsley）提出反對。
吉布卡斯里表示，戒護人的角色應該是與獲保釋者「有關、但分離」才對，「孟晚舟如果要棄保潛逃，她的丈夫也會一起逃。就算劉曉棕抵押自己在溫哥華的兩棟房產，孟晚舟以後也可以補償他」。更何況劉曉棕能不能長期停留加拿大，全憑加拿大同不同意展延他的簽證，不是他個人所能掌控。
辯方律師轉而尋求法庭同意，是否可以將保釋金降至1500萬加幣以下，但是由多位保釋擔保人共同擔保。
孟晚舟的律師也反對檢方要求將孟晚舟24小時軟禁在家中。因為，孟晚舟希望能在交保候傳期間，在溫哥華攻讀博士學位。
律師最後在法庭上轉達孟晚舟與他一席感性的對話，孟晚舟告訴他說：「我辛勤工作了25年，要是能夠獲釋，我只想和我先生和女兒在一起。我有好多年沒有看小說了。」（編輯：屈享平）