孟晚舟案审理结束丨Huawei CFO's legal team presents final arguments

孟晚舟案审理结束丨Huawei CFO's legal team presents final arguments

As Meng Wanzhou's extradition hearing resumed this week in Canada, her legal team made a last pitch to the judge to stay the proceeding, arguing that there is no evidence showing that the Huawei executive caused HSBC to violate US sanctions against Iran.

随着孟晚舟的引渡听证会本周在加拿大重新开始，她的法律团队向法官提出了中止诉讼的最后建议，认为没有证据表明这位华为高管导致汇丰银行违反美国对伊朗的制裁。

Defense lawyer Mark Sandler opened the arguments by elaborating on elements of deprivation, HSBC's risk of violating the US sanctions, and the causal connection between Meng's actions and the bank's alleged losses. All those facts substantiate that fraud cannot be established, he said.

辩护律师马克·桑德勒在辩论开始时阐述了欺诈的要点，汇丰银行违反美国制裁的风险，以及孟晚舟的行为与银行被指控损失之间的因果关系。他说，所有这些事实都证实了欺诈不能成立。

"In Canada's legal history, there was never a fraud case in which the government would hold the victim accountable in the absence of actual losses," Sandler told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday.

“在加拿大法律的历史上，从未有过在没有欺诈损失证明的情况下导致起诉欺诈的案件。”桑德勒周一在温哥华不列颠哥伦比亚省最高法院告诉副首席法官希瑟·霍姆斯。

In thousands of fraud cases, victims all relied upon deceptive statements of perpetrators and made choices that had caused damage to themselves or put them at risk of damage, Sandler said. However, the defense argued that there was no damage or any risk of it in Meng's case.

桑德勒说，在数以千计的欺诈案件中，受害者都依赖犯罪者的欺骗性陈述，并做出了对自己造成损害或使自己面临损害风险的选择。然而，辩方认为，在孟晚舟的案件中，没有实际损失或任何风险。

"There's no evidence that HSBC suffered any actual loss. There's no evidence that HSBC was charged criminally. There's no evidence HSBC was sued or otherwise proceeded against civilly," Sandler told the court.

“没有证据表明汇丰银行遭受了任何实际损失。没有证据表明汇丰银行被指控犯有刑事罪行。没有证据表明汇丰银行被起诉或以其他方式被提起民事诉讼，”桑德勒告诉法庭。

US records of the case allege that Meng, the 49-year-old chief financial officer of the Shenzhen telecom giant, misrepresented Huawei's relationship with Skycom when she was giving a presentation to HSBC in 2013, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Iran. Meng and Huawei Technologies deny the accusations.
美国的案件记录称，深圳电信巨头49岁的首席财务官孟晚舟在2013年向汇丰银行作报告时，虚报了华为与Skycom的关系，使该银行面临违反美国对伊朗制裁的风险。孟晚舟和华为技术有限公司否认了这些指控。

The defense noted that Meng had clearly stated that both Huawei and Skycom operated in Iran in her 2013 presentation and presentation deck. Even though HSBC knew that the payments made by Skycom to its partner Networkers were related to Iran, the bank still chose to clear the transactions via the US.

辩方指出，孟晚舟在2013年的报告和简报中明确表示，华为和Skycom都在伊朗运营。即使汇丰银行知道Skycom向其合作伙伴Networkers支付的款项与伊朗有关，该银行仍然选择通过美国结算交易。

"That's been made crystal clear," said Sandler to the judge. "HSBC chose to clear the Networkers payments through the US despite being told the the precise relationship—affiliates, partners, controllable third parties—was irrelevant to whether HSBC could clear in the US," he said. 

“这已经很清楚了，”桑德勒对法官说。“尽管被告知确切的关系—联营公司、合作伙伴、可控制的第三方—与汇丰是否能在美国结算无关，汇丰还是选择通过美国结算Networkers的款项。

"Liability for violating sanctions was HSBC's own doing and had nothing to do with Meng. I can state this another way: Nothing Meng said induced HSBC to violate US sanctions law."

“违反制裁的责任是汇丰自己造成的，与孟晚舟无关。我可以用另一种方式说明：孟晚舟说的任何话都没有诱使汇丰银行违反美国制裁法。”

The records of the case described HSBC as an unknowing victim that could be criminally liable as a result of its violations due to Meng's fraudulent presentation. The defense argued that the Canadian attorney general's theory regarding the deprivation risk faced by HSBC under the US sanctions was "untenable", regardless of whether it was considered from a factual or legal perspective.

该案的记录将汇丰银行描述为一个不知情的受害者，由于孟晚舟的欺诈性陈述，汇丰银行可能因其违规而承担刑事责任。辩方认为，无论从事实还是法律角度考虑，加拿大总检察长关于汇丰银行在美国制裁下面临的剥夺风险的理论是“站不住脚的”。

"Even if you found that there's evidence to support the inference that Meng's representations supported HSBC's dollar-clearing decision, there's no evidence that HSBC suffered any actual loss," Sandler said.

“即使你发现有证据表明孟晚舟的陈述支持汇丰银行的美元清算决定这一推论，也没有证据表明汇丰银行遭受任何实际损失，”桑德勒说。

Robert Frater, a lawyer for the Canadian attorney general, concluded last week that in the government's request for Meng's extradition, the US does not need to prove that HSBC relied on what Meng said to make its case for fraud.

加拿大总检察长的律师罗伯特·弗雷特上周得出结论，在政府提出的引渡孟晚舟的请求中，美国不需要证明汇丰银行依孟晚舟所说的话来进行欺诈。

Sandler said he is "shocked" that an extradition case that has spanned almost three years has yet to generate a clear cause of causality to establish Meng's culpability of fraud.

桑德勒说，他感到震惊的是，一个跨越了近三年的引渡案件还没有产生明确的因果关系，以确定孟晚舟的欺诈罪责。

"It is an unsound argument," Sandler said. "Reliance, in this case, is fundamental to causation. ... And there's no evidence that Ms Meng knew how these transactions would be processed."

“这是一个不健全的论点，”桑德勒说。“在这种情况下，信任是因果关系的根本...而且没有证据表明孟女士知道这些交易将如何被处理”。