A multimillionaire Chinese refugee claimant accused of fraud in his homeland was deported to China on Wednesday despite fears he could be tortured or executed there, his lawyer said.

Canadian authorities escorted Han Lin Zang, 65, to the airport and put him on an afternoon flight to China just hours after a federal court judge nixed an emergency stay of removal.

"He is deeply concerned, frightened, but, to a certain degree, resigned to this," one of his lawyers, Daniel Kingwell, said in an interview.

In his decision, Judge Richard Boivin decided there was no reason to take the "extraordinary" step of ordering a stay of Zeng's deportation.

He said Zeng's fears appeared to be overblown.

"The applicant's arguments are speculative, as there is no evidence that the death penalty or torture can reasonably be anticipated in this case," Boivin wrote.

"There is no evidence of precedent to support the applicant's arguments."

Canada Border Services Agency did not return repeated calls, but Kingwell said his client was put on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Beijing.

The self-made millionaire once owned a large firm in China focused on shipping, transportation services and mechanical manufacturing.

In 1997, his business merged with a steel company, and his new partner accused him of concealing mortgages.

Rather than face contract-fraud charges in China, Zeng fled to Canada in 2000, claiming corrupt officials had framed him.

He stayed illegally for four years before filing a refugee claim in Toronto in 2004.

However, the refugee board rejected his request for asylum in light of the criminal allegations against him.

In January, an immigration pre-removal risk assessment deemed Zeng safe to return to China. Immigration authorities detained him for the past week.

Boivin heard oral arguments in Toronto on Tuesday, deliberating overnight before deciding to allow the deportation to proceed.

Kingwell said the risk of execution was real, and Canada had failed to guard against that risk.

"The fear is the death penalty," Kingwell said. "Canada sought no assurance that he will not be executed despite the uncontradicted expert opinion that he will. We're very concerned."

Prof. Vincent Cheng Yang, considered an authority on China's legal system, previously testified to a high likelihood that Zeng would be tortured into a confession or face a firing squad.

For its part, Ottawa argued that while Zeng does face the risk of a substantial prison sentence if convicted, the chance of ill-treatment or execution is remote.

Boivin agreed with the government, noting that the contract-fraud charge Zeng faces does not carry the death penalty on conviction.

Nor was there any evidence that Chinese authorities would upgrade the charge to financial fraud, which is a capital crime, Boivin said.

Zeng's lawyers argued that China is well aware of the sensitivities around the death penalty, so had lowballed the charges to smooth his extradition.

They also maintained Canada was putting its economic relations with Beijing ahead of human rights.

Another of Zeng's lawyers, Joel Sandaluk, called Boivin's decision to allow Canada to boot his client a "devastating loss."