An ex-Austrian bank chief wanted in the US over his alleged role in a giant Brazilian corruption scandal lost a bid to halt his extradition from the UK.
(Bloomberg) — An ex-Austrian bank chief wanted in the US over his alleged role in a giant Brazilian corruption scandal lost a bid to halt his extradition from the UK.
Peter Weinzierl, the former chief executive officer of Meinl Bank AG, had attempted to argue in a London court that he was “lured” to the UK by a CIA agent and arrested on “fabricated charges.” But the judge disagreed, ruling on Monday that Weinzierl could be sent to face a US trial.
The banker is suspected of taking part in the massive Odebrecht SA corruption scheme, which saw hundreds of millions of dollars of bribes funneled to officials to win business across Latin America. Federal prosecutors say Weinzierl and another official helped move about $170 million from accounts in New York through Meinl Bank to offshore shell accounts.
Weinzierl denied the allegations related to Odebrecht and his lawyer said he planned an appeal. Weinzierl had argued that US officials were more interested in information about money laundering in Russia and Ukraine.
The banker was arrested at a London airfield after piloting his private plane into the country in May 2021.
Judge Paul Goldspring said there was no abuse of process in the way that Weinzierl was arrested, rejecting testimony from an ex-Meinl banker that the US intelligence agent actually wanted to force Weinzierl to give up “valuable information about persons of interest” in former Soviet bloc countries.
FBI Meetings
The agent “enticed” Weinzierl to London, the colleague said, following a series of meetings he held with officials from the FBI and the US Department of Justice that stretch back as far as 2014. The officials were particularly interested in money flows through Latvian shell companies, the former Meinl banker said.
Weinzierl’s case will now be sent to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman for her sign-off.
Meinl Bank was shut down by the European Central Bank in 2020 following an investigation into “serious breaches” of money-laundering rules. The bank named after the Meinl family, a coffee-and-retailing dynasty that saw its fortunes soar under the Habsburg Empire, was facing questions over its alleged role helping Ukrainian officials move tens of millions of euros.
Weinzierl’s lawyer David Pack said he continues to assert his innocence. “My client is extremely disappointed at today’s judgment which is just another example of the UK courts buckling to the US authorities abusing this country’s extradition laws,” Pack said.
(Updates with comment from Weinzierl’s lawyer in fourth paragraph.)
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