Huawei Charged with RICO Violations in Federal Court

Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and two of its US subsidiaries have been charged in federal court with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The charges are detailed in a 16-count superseding indictment filed today.

A superseding indictment is an amendment or addition to a previous indictment. In this case, the indictment contains charges from a previous superseding indictment which was unsealed in January 2019. In addition to the RICO violations, the new indictment includes a charge of conspiracy to steal trade secrets from a wide range of US companies.

Huawei allegedly stole proprietary and confidential intellectual property from six US technology firms, including Internet router source code, cellular antenna technology, and robotics. According to the indictment, these thefts — and the sophisticated institutional efforts to gain information and hide the activity — are part of a campaign that stretches back decades. The success of the campaign, prosecutors say, has allowed Huawei to save millions of dollars in its own research and development efforts.

The investigation is ongoing. 

For more, read here.

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