Huawei CFO linked to firm trying to sell HP kit to Iran

THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO) of Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei reportedly has been linked with a firm that offered HP kit to Iran.

Huawei, which has been mired in controversy over access to its equipment and more recently offering to supply HP equipment to Iran now has one of its most senior and high profile executives directly implicated in the damaging allegations. The firm's CFO Cathy Meng, daughter of company's founder, has been linked to Skycom, the firm at the centre of the allegations.

According to Reuters, there is a paper trail that points to Meng, Skycom and Huawei from 2007. The documents show a management company owned by Hauwei's parent firm controlled all Skycom shares, during which time Meng served as the company secretary.

HP said it bans the sale of its equipment to Iran, while Huawei and Skycom have said they did not supply the HP branded equipment, though 13 pages of proposals seen by Reuters were marked "Huawei Confidential". Huawei said its relationship with Skycom was merely a "normal business partnership", adding that it complies with laws and regulations including those of the United Nations.

Meng recently delivered bumper financial results and even offered journalists on-the-record interviews, something the firm has rarely given in the past. Huawei is keen to show it is a transparent company with no links to the Chinese military after it was banned from bidding on contracts in Australia, India and the United States.

However, the firm's hard work in opening its equipment to foreign inspection looks set to be undone with Meng now being dragged into these allegations. µ