By Sarah Berman
VANCOUVER (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was surveilling Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou prior to her December 2018 arrest at a Canadian airport, a police officer said at Meng's extradition hearing on Tuesday.
Defence lawyer Scott Fenton asked a Canadian police officer if he knew she was "subject to some FBI surveillance," part of a battle to have Meng's extradition to the United States on bank fraud charges thrown out.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) constable Gurvinder Dhaliwal replied that it appears, based on records and exhibits, that somebody did know about the surveillance.
Meng's defense team is trying to prove that her civil rights were violated when Canadian border officials questioned her and collected identifying information about her electronic devices without any legal representation before RCMP arrested her.
The defense is also pointing to a delay in Meng's arrest as a civil rights violation, arguing the RCMP wanted to use CBSA's additional powers to investigate Meng without a lawyer present.
Fenton focused on what rights Meng would have been informed of if RCMP arrested her immediately after she exited a plane from Hong Kong rather than waiting until after CBSA's investigation, arguing that she would have been informed about the charges against her and her right to legal counsel.
Dhaliwal agreed, adding "that’s a hypothetical."
The witness testimony is part of Meng's U.S. extradition hearing taking place in the British Columbia Supreme Court.
Meng, 48, was arrested while on a layover at Vancouver International Airport. U.S. prosecutors charged her with bank fraud, accusing her of misleading HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) PLC about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's business dealings in Iran, allegedly causing the bank to break U.S. sanctions.
Meng has said she is innocent of all charges against her and has mounted a defense seeking to prove that Canadian and U.S. authorities illegally directed CBSA examination.
CBSA and RCMP officers have been called to the witness stand to testify on the events surrounding Meng's investigation and subsequent arrest, focusing specifically on alleged illegal coordination between the forces and whether identifying details about Meng's devices were purposely shared with police.
On Monday Dhaliwal recounted how he secured Meng's devices from a border agent immediately after she was arrested. When asked if he requested passcodes, Dhaliwal replied, "Absolutely not."
Dhaliwal said on Monday he did not pay close attention during a briefing with the Department of Justice on the eve of Meng's arrest, nor did he spend much time reading the provisional warrant before the arrest.
Diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beijing have degraded in the wake of Meng's arrest. China arrested Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on espionage charges days later.
Witness testimony is set to last until Friday, with the potential for two to three more days scheduled in December. Meng's extradition hearing is expected to wrap up in April 2021.