Reported by: Sam Tobin

The former chief executive of an Austrian bank who faces charges in the United States in relation to a bribery and money laundering conspiracy involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht asked a London court on Wednesday to refuse to extradite him.

Peter Weinzierl – former chief executive of Meinl Bank, later renamed Anglo Austrian AAB Bank – is accused of helping launder hundreds of millions of dollars in a scheme involving the use of slush funds to pay bribes to public officials around the world.

The 57-year-old Austrian national, who denies the allegations, attended Westminster Magistrates’ Court as his lawyers said in closing arguments that U.S prosecutors “deliberately misdescribed” Weinzierl’s role to secure his extradition from Britain.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is seeking the extradition on behalf of the United States, said in court filings that Weinzierl is attempting to argue the merits of the prosecution case, which should be determined at trial.

Read full report: https://www.reuters.com/world/austrian-banker-fights-extradition-us-money-laundering-charges-2022-11-16/