A racketeering trial against Huawei began Wednesday in New York.

A racketeering charge means a group crime.

Federal prosecutors say Huawei did bad things.

They say Huawei stole technology from American firms.

They say Huawei abused the U.S. financial system.

They say Huawei helped Iran spy on its people.

Huawei is the world's biggest maker of wireless network gear.

But the U.S. bans Huawei from selling gear to U.S. carriers.

The U.S. fears for security.

Canada and Britain also ban Huawei.

Taylor Stout is a lawyer for the Justice Department.

She opened the government's case.

She told the jury in Brooklyn that Huawei broke the law many times.

She said this happened over 20 years.

Brian Heberlig is a defense lawyer.

He said the accusations are wrong.

He said prosecutors used a few stories.

He said a few workers did bad things.

Huawei has about 200,000 workers in 170 countries.

He said there was "no blueprint for crime."

The first witness was Parham Baheshti.

He grew up in Iran.

He became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

He told the court he gave secrets to the U.S. government.

The secrets were about his work with Huawei.

He said he learned about Huawei in 2009.

He worked for a small firm then.

The firm brought the internet to far parts of Iran.

He said he found it "infuriating."

He learned Huawei was pitching a plan.

The plan was "for analyzing the (Iranian) people and their behavior online."

He left Iran in 2011.

Someone told him he was under investigation.

Heberlig told the jury the prosecution's witnesses were not reliable.

He said some testimony came from "old grudges."

He made fun of one plan.

The plan was to show a Huawei worker took a photo of a rival's product.

This happened at a trade show.

He said Huawei fired the worker for the "foolish act."

He said this was not proof of a companywide conspiracy.

The U.S. announced the criminal charges in early 2019.

The U.S. has since added more charges.

Chinese officials have called the U.S. actions "economic bullying."