New York – US prosecutors on Thursday added trade secret theft charges to their bank fraud case against Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies Co , further escalating the US battle with the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker.
The new indictment, which supersedes one from last year, was filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York and charges Huawei with conspiring to steal trade secrets from six US technology companies and to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
It also contains new allegations about the company’s involvement in countries subject to sanctions, such as Iran and North Korea.
“The indictment paints a damning portrait of an illegitimate organisation that lacks any regard for the law,” US Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr and vice chairman Mark Warner said in a joint statement.
The Republican and Democratic Senators called it “an important step in combating Huawei’s state-directed and criminal enterprise.”