Article content

VANCOUVER — Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou returned to a Vancouver courtroom on Wednesday where Canadian prosecutors defended a U.S. extradition request, saying Meng’s alleged bank fraud is the heart of the case that has strained relations between Ottawa and Beijing.

Canadian prosecutors have told the British Columbia Supreme Court that Meng was arrested on charges of bank fraud, which is a crime in both countries, and not because of U.S. allegations she violated U.S. sanctions against Iran.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canada prosecutors say fraud at heart of Huawei CFO Meng's U.S. extradition case Back to video

Over three days of hearings, Meng’s legal team argued that “double criminality” is at the heart of the U.S. extradition request.

When ending its arguments on Tuesday, the defense told the judge that the case is “unique” because “the risk of economic deprivation arises solely from the operation of a foreign criminal law for which no corresponding Canadian…law exists.”

The United States has charged Meng with bank fraud, and accused her of misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s business in Iran.