[9th Reuters]-US prosecutors prosecute Chinese university professor for allegedly fraudulently acquired technology from a California company for Huawei, China's leading communications equipment giant did.
According to court materials, Mr. Manami, who was appointed as an associate professor at Xiamen University in China and a visiting professor at the University of Texas last fall, was arrested in Texas on August 14 and later released on bail. A trial conviction, held at the federal district court in Brooklyn, New York on August 28, pleaded not guilty to alleged communications fraud.
According to the complaint, Mr. Mao agreed to obtain a circuit board for academic research purposes from a California IT company. However, the prosecution claims that an anonymous Chinese telecom company tried to steal the technology, and Mr. Mao took part in the plan. According to sources, the Chinese company is Huawei, and the court document states that the case is related to Huawei.
Mr. Mao appeared in a civil lawsuit fought until June this year between Huawei and start-up company CNEX Labs in Silicon Valley, California.
Huawei filed a lawsuit against CNEX and former staff in December 2017 for stealing trade secrets. CNEX also filed a lawsuit against Huawei, and when Mao sent the circuit board he requested for a research project, he claimed that it was used for research related to Huawei.
Both cases were closed in June with no claims for damages, but the prosecution authorities decided to indict Mr. Mao in CNEX civil lawsuit. Prosecutors have also prosecuted Huawei for alleged bank fraud and violations of US sanctions against Iran.
A Huawei spokesperson pointed out that Mr. Ma himself had not been sued by CNEX and had never stood on the testbed in civil lawsuits, but the US prosecuted him. He criticized it as the latest example of “discriminatory prosecution” by the US government.
Mr. Ma's trial will be held on the 11th.