FBI investigates China's ZTE for sales to Iran

The FBI launched a probe into ZTE Corporation (0763.HKG, 000063.SHE), China’s second largest telecom equipment provider, for allegedly selling prohibited US hardware and software to Iran, Reuters reported, citing US-based website The Smoking Gun. The site partially released a confidential FBI affidavit in which Ashley Kyle Yablon, general counsel of ZTE’s US subsidiary, also alleges that ZTE executives discussed disposing evidence linking the company to the sale in an attempt to thwart a Department of Commerce probe. The investigations were launched following a Reuters article in March detailing ZTE’s US$120 million contract with Iran for computer equipment from top US tech companies including Microsoft (MSFT.NASDAQ), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.NYSE), Oracle (ORCL.NASDAQ), Cisco Systems (CSCO, NASDAQ), Dell (DELL.NASDAQ), Juniper Networks (JNPR.NYSE) and Symantec (SYMC.NASDAQ). The “Packing List” for fulfilling the contract is said to have included a surveillance system which monitors landline, mobile and internet communications.