Huawei pleads not guilty to new racketeering and fraud charges by US government in 2018 case

Huawei's lawyer told the court that the progress of the case could be delayed due to coronavirus outbreak

China's Huawei Technologies has pleaded not guilty to new charges filed by the US prosecutors last month in a 2018 case against the company.

Thomas Green, a US lawyer for Huawei, submitted the not guilty plea on behalf of the Chinese company and its three subsidiaries.

Green told the court that the progress of the case could be delayed as the company's lawyers were unable to travel to China due to coronavirus outbreak.

"Our efforts here at defending our client have become more complicated because of this virus," he said, according to Reuters.

Last month, the revised indictment by the US government accused the Chinese telecoms giant of conspiring to steal intellectual property from six American technology firms for nearly 20 years.

According to prosecutors, the trade secrets stolen included "copyrighted works, such as source code and user manuals for internet routers, antenna technology and robot testing technology".

Huawei was also accused of providing false information to the US government about its business in North Korea and helping Iran to track protesters during the 2009 anti-government demonstrations.

The US prosecutors alleged that Huawei and its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou committed bank fraud and also violated US sanctions against Iran by using a front company named Skycom Tech to obtain goods from US firms and to move funds via the international banking system.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, was arrested in December 2018 in Canada. She is currently fighting extradition to the US.

The latest indictment doesn't reveal the names of the US companies from whom Huawei is alleged to have stolen trade secrets. However, based on the details of the allegations, the companies are thought to be Motorola, Cisco Systems, T-Mobile and Cnex Labs.

Huawei described the new accusations as unfair and unfounded. The company said that these charges rest on civil disputes that have already been settled, litigated, or rejected by federal judges and juries in the last two decades.

The company also accused the US Department of Justice of attempting to harm Huawei's business and reputation for political reasons rather than law enforcement.

Earlier this month, Reuters claimed that it got hold of two Huawei packing lists from December 2010, suggesting that Huawei sold over $10 million worth of equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone carrier MCI.

The goods shipped included HP computer equipment as well as software from multiple US firms, including Microsoft, Symantec and Novell.