US Launches Criminal Probe Of China IT Giant Huawei For Technology Theft - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2019) US prosecutors are pursuing a criminal investigation of Huawei based on allegations that the Chinese telecommunications giant stole robotic phone-testing technology from the American mobile phone provider T-Mobile, media reported.

"The investigation grew in part out of civil lawsuits against Huawei, including one in which a Seattle jury found Huawei liable for misappropriating robotic technology from T-Mobile's Bellevue, Wash. lab," the Wall Street Journal reported, based on unnamed sources. "The probe is at an advanced stage and could lead to an indictment soon.

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Huawei equipment has been banned from US government computers and most US information networks because of concerns that the company's equipment could be used to spy, an allegation long denied by the company.

T-Mobile filed a lawsuit against Huawei in 2014, a time when an American company had hired Huawei to supply cellphones, the report said. During the partnership, Huawei employees asked detailed questions about the testing robot and attempted to sneak parts of the device out of a T-Mobile lab.

A Justice Department spokesman and Huawei spokesman declined to comment for the article.