Man with Irish passport may be extradited on fraud charges

AN Irish passport holder who is accused of a major international fraud may find out today if he is to face extradition to the US from The Bahamas.

Czech-born Viktor Kozeny, 42, is wanted by US authorities for his alleged role in defrauding investors out of e150 million in a scam linked to a state oil company in Azerbaijan.

Kozeny - who has been dubbed the Pirate of Prague and the Bouncing Czech over his controversial projects - obtained eight Irish passports as part of the discontinued and highly criticised “passports for investment” scheme during the 1990s.

His lawyers have argued that his Irish citizenship means Kozeny should not face extradition to the US.

However, the US authorities have submitted several sworn affidavits which outline how Kozeny allegedly transferred millions of US dollars in bribes to government officials and their relatives in Azerbaijan in order to obtain an interest in the state oil company, SOCAR.

Kozeny’s attorney, Clive Nichols, has told the court in the capital of The Bahamas, Nassau, that only US nationals can be prosecuted for an offence under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

He also claims that his client can only be extradited for an offence that is a crime in The Bahamas.

Kozeny was arrested last October in the Bahamas, where has been living since the mid-1990s.

Mr Nichols insisted the US administration was fully informed about Kozeny’s financial dealings in Azerbaijan.

However, he has not denied that the businessman lavished Azeri officials with gifts and money but stressed that such money laundering activity does not constitute a crime in The Bahamas.

Kozeny is also wanted by the Czech authorities over his alleged role in extorting over €332m from around 80,000 former clients in the Czech Republic in another controversial privatisation scheme.