Top Huawei Executives Had Close Ties to Company at Center of US Criminal Case

A man wearing a face mask following the COVID-19 outbreak walks past a Huawei booth at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, Sept. 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

LONDON/SAO PAULO—An obscure Hong Kong-registered company stands at the center of the U.S. criminal case against China’s Huawei Technologies and its chief financial officer.

U.S. authorities allege the giant telecom-gear maker used the firm to skirt American economic sanctions on Iran between 2007 and 2014. Huawei has said it sold the business in 2007 and denies any wrongdoing.