Federal prosecutors are leading a criminal investigation into Huawei and allegations that it stole trade secrets from US companies

• Federal prosecutors are investigating the Chinese electronics giant Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from US companies, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday. 
• One such incident includes Huawei supposedly stealing robotic technology that T-Mobile uses to test its smartphones, according to the report. 
• The report says that the investigation is advanced and may soon lead to an indictment.

Federal prosecutors are investigating Chinese electronics giant Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from US companies, according to a Wall Street Journal report. 

One aspect of the criminal probe involves allegations that Huawei stole robotic technology used for testing smartphones from a T-Mobile facility in Washington, according to the report which cited anonymous sources. The report says that the investigation is advanced and may soon lead to an indictment. 

Huawei is one of the world's leading smartphone makers. The company has been at the center of growing trade tensions between the US and China, and has faced long running accusations in the US that its technology could be used by Beijing to spy on American citizens and businesses — charges which Huawei has strenuously denied. 

In December, Huawei's CFO was arrested during a stopover in Canada on allegations of violating trade sanctions with Iran.

The federal investigation apparently stems from civil lawsuits against Huawei, in particular a Seattle-based case which found the Chinese tech company liable for stealing robotic technology from T-Mobile's Bellevue, Washington lab. 

A Huawei spokesperson told Business Insider on Wednesday: "We're not going to comment on such reports in the press. Huawei and T-Mobile have settled their disputes in 2017 following a jury verdict finding neither damage, unjust enrichment nor willful and malicious conduct for T-Mobile's trade secret claim."

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via Signal at +1 (209) 730-3387, email at nbastone@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @nickbastone.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: All smartphones look the same today for 2 key reasons