Canadian officer in Huawei’s CFO arrest says he did not ask for phone keys

VANCOUVER: A Canadian police officer involved in the arrest of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou two years ago in an extradition case from the United States, testified on Monday that he did not plan to obtain his mobile phone passwords or record your electronic devices.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) agent Gurvinder Dhaliwal told a Canadian court that he and his partner were “discreet” about their contact with Canadian border officials on the eve of Meng’s arrest on December 1, 2018.

He said they discussed collecting Meng’s phone and other electronic devices and putting them in protective bags, but that he did not ask border agents to obtain access codes.

The superintendent of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), Sowmith Katragadda, had previously testified that he requested the passwords for Meng’s phone and laptop and that she voluntarily provided them.

Meng, 48, is accused of misleading HSBC Holdings PLC bank on Huawei Technologies Co Ltd business affairs in Iran, allegedly causing the bank to breach US sanctions. If extradited, Meng will face a fraud trial in the Eastern District of New York.

She denies the charges and is fighting them under house arrest in Vancouver, arguing that the arrest itself was the product of political interference.

Huawei’s lawyers are seeking evidence to support their case that Meng’s rights were violated prior to his arrest. In a document filed with the court last year, CBSA admitted to making a “mistake” in sharing the passwords with RCMP.

Dhaliwal said it was his job to secure the devices after the CBSA examination was completed and Meng was in custody. He said he recovered the devices along with a sheet of paper with access codes.

A border agent handed him the paper, but they did not discuss how the device’s passwords were collected.

When asked if he requested the passwords, Dhaliwal replied, “Of course not,” adding that he was not concerned about the presence of the sheet of paper with the passwords. “I didn’t even think about it. I just put it on the phones.”

Dhaliwal told the court that days after the arrest he received an email from RCMP Staff Sergeant Ben Chang, requesting the make, model and serial numbers, as well as photos of the devices, which Dhaliwal gave him. Chang has refused to appear to testify. Court documents showed that the government initially refused to release notes related to him to Huawei’s lawyers, citing the safety of witnesses.

Dhaliwal testified that he was never asked for access codes and did not look at the contents of the devices.

In the afternoon, defense attorney Scott Fenton pressured Dhaliwal about his trip to the airport on the eve of Meng’s arrival at Vancouver International Airport.

Dhaliwal said the main purpose of his trip was to find out if Meng was on the flight. Fenton responded by telling Dhaliwal that he could have found out if Meng’s plane took off with a “simple Google search.”

Meng’s attorneys are fighting to have his extradition dismissed on the basis of alleged abuses of the process, arguing that they constitute violations of his civil rights and that US and Canadian officials coordinated prior to his arrest.

CBSA officers testified last week that the questioning of Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, followed standard procedures and was independent of any police action.

This week’s witness testimony is expected to last until Friday, when a series of police witnesses will discuss their role in Meng’s arrest.

Diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beijing have deteriorated in the wake of Meng’s arrest. China arrested Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on espionage charges days later.

Meng’s extradition hearing is scheduled to conclude in April 2021.

(Reporting by Sarah Berman; Additional reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto; Editing by Denny Thomas and Christopher Cushing)