US refuses to extradite St Kitts case accused

NEW DELHI, March 25: The CBI today informed a Delhi court that the United States has turned down India's request to extradite an accused in ...

NEW DELHI, March 25: The CBI today informed a Delhi court that the United States has turned down India’s request to extradite an accused in the St Kitts forgery case, involving an alleged attempt to tarnish the image of former premier V P Singh, following expiry of limitation period.

“The extradition request was issued seven years after the criminal activities and this period exceeds the American domestic statute of limitation for the crime of forgery,” CBI deputy superintendent Keshav Mishra told chief metropolitan magistrate Prem Kumar, quoting the US State Department document.

The External Affairs ministry had requested for extradition of Larry J Kolb on January 21, 1997, Mishra said in his written submission.

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Kolb, son-in-law of international arms dealer Adnan Khashogi, a named accused in the FIR filed in the case registered on May 25, 1990, but his name did not figure in the chargesheet filed in September 1996. The process for his extradition started in January last year.

The CBI had allegedthat former premier P V Narasimha Rao and former union minister K K Tewary, who were discharged in the case last year, were among other accused who conspired to forge certain documents to show that V P Singh’s son Ajeya Singh had opened a bank account in the St Kitts island in 1986 and deposited $21 million in it.

Besides Kolb, other accused included godman Chandraswami and his aide K N Aggarwal, besides former enforcement director K L Verma.

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