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| Accused arms dealer Richard Chichakli in US to face fraud charges |
| 2013-05-25 |
| A MAN accused of being the financial brains behind convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout has been extradited from Australia to the US. Syrian-born Richard Chichakli, 53, had been living in Melbourne under an alias and working as a cleaner for almost three years before authorities arrested him in January. Chichakli's cover was blown after he attempted to apply for a job as a Victorian Protective Services Officer and a fingerprint check connected him to an Interpol red alert. "As alleged, Richard Chichakli and Viktor Bout had common cause - the purchase of aircraft in violation of international sanctions against them for their involvement in facilitating arms delivery to some of the world's most lethal combat zones,'' Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said this morning AEST. "With his extradition today to face charges for his flagrant violation of international sanctions and other crimes, he will now face the same American justice Viktor Bout did.'' Bout, nicknamed The Merchant of Death, is serving a 25-year prison term after his November 2011 conviction in New York for conspiring to sell millions of dollars of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a US designated foreign terrorist organisation based in Colombia. |
| Posted by:tipper |