U.S. brings new charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has added new criminal charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei and two of its U.S. subsidiaries, accusing the company in a plot to steal trade secrets from competitors in America, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

The case comes as the Trump administration is raising national security concerns about Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and is lobbying Western allies against including the company in wireless, high-speed networks.

The new indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn adds to the legal woes in the U.S. for Huaweiy, which already faced bank fraud charges in that district and a separate trade secrets theft in federal court in Seattle.

The latest allegations accuse Huawei of plotting to steal the trade secrets and intellectual property of rival companies in the U.S. In some cases, prosecutors said, Huawei directed and provided incentives its own employees to steal from competitors by offering bonuses to those who brought in the most valuable stolen information.

The company also used proxies, including professors at research institutions, to steal intellectual property, prosecutors said.

A lawyer for Huawei did not immediately return a call seeking comment.