Huawei Prosecutor Says U.S. Has Ongoing Grand Jury Probe
Huawei Prosecutor Says U.S. Has Ongoing Grand Jury Probe
(Bloomberg) -- A U.S. lawyer prosecuting Huawei Technologies Co. for Iran sanctions violations said a federal grand jury is investigating potential criminal conduct related to the case of a Xiamen University professor who’s been charged with stealing trade secrets on behalf of a Chinese telecommunications company.
The disclosure was made Wednesday when a lawyer for professor Bo Mao asked why his client’s case was transferred from Texas to Brooklyn, New York, -- a move Richard Roper called “extraordinary.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Solomon said he couldn’t disclose the reason because it pertains to an ongoing grand jury probe.
“It’s grand jury information so they’re not entitled to see that,” Solomon told U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly, referring to Roper and Mao. “If and when the charges become public as to the fruits of that grand jury matter, then we’ll share it with them.”
Mao, 36, was charged last month in Texas with conspiring to defraud a California tech company by stealing a computer chip while claiming to be doing academic research in 2016.
Civil Lawsuit
While the U.S. didn’t identify the telecom company or its alleged victim, the complaint parallels allegations CNEX Labs Inc. made against Huawei in a civil case. CNEX accused Mao of helping Huawei steal the technology.
Mao, who was represented by a public defender in Texas, was held there for six days before he agreed to waive his right to have his case presented to a grand jury and instead opted to be prosecuted via a criminal information, Roper said. Mao also agreed to waive his right to challenge venue in the case, according to the lawyer.
A waiver of indictment can signal a guilty plea, possibly along with an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors.
“It’s a little bit of an unusual case,” said Roper, who was the U.S. Attorney in Dallas under George W. Bush. “If there is some outrageous or nefarious information against my client, I’d like to see it.”
Solomon said the evidence the government has collected against Mao was “voluminous” and could also include classified information.
Donnelly scheduled a Nov. 13 pre-trial conference. Mao, who remains free on $100,000 bond, declined to comment after the hearing. Roper also declined to comment.
The case is U.S. v. Mao, 19-cr-392, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Peter Blumberg
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