Chinese man held in Italy on US warrant claims mistaken identity

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(Clarifies in this July 8 story’s fourth paragraph that the U.S. Justice Department says a university in Texas was targeted and removes reference to the University of Texas)

MILAN (Reuters) -A Chinese man arrested in Italy on a U.S. warrant over alleged industrial espionage has opposed extradition, claiming he is a victim of mistaken identity, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Xu Zewei, a 33-year-old IT manager at a Shanghai company, appeared on Tuesday before an appeals court in Milan, which will decide whether to send him to the United States.

The man was arrested last week after he arrived at Milan’s Malpensa airport for a holiday in Italy with his wife.

U.S. authorities allege that he was part of a team of hackers who in 2020 hacked and otherwise targeted U.S.-based universities, immunologist, and virologists conducting research into COVID‑19 vaccines, treatment, and testing. The U.S. Justice Department says a research university located in the Southern District of Texas was also targeted.

“He told the judge that he had no reason to do what he is accused of and suggested that someone may have hacked into and used his account,” his lawyer Enrico Giarda told reporters at the end of the hearing, which was held behind closed doors.

The lawyer added that his client said his surname is quite common in China and that his mobile phone had been stolen in 2020.

“We are now waiting for the U.S. authorities to send us the investigation files so that we can understand how they came to identify him as the perpetrator,” Giarda said, adding that Washington has 40 days to send the documents.

The lawyer specified that they plan to request house arrest, but only at a later stage. 

In the meantime, he said he expects the next hearing to be scheduled after the summer break.

The charges listed on the arrest warrant are wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unauthorised access to protected computers. 

(Reporting by Emilio Parodi; Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Porter)