|
The man, Joshua Cartu, is wanted, alongside his brothers David
and Jonathan and several others, for allegedly operating a
fraudulent binary options trading scheme between 2013 and 2018
that defrauded investors of millions of dollars, according to a
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission statement from May
2020.
The St Petersburg court service said Cartu had been detained on
Aug. 19 at Pulkovo airport. It identified him as a citizen of
Israel and Canada and said he was "wanted by the United States
of America." It wasn't immediately clear when Cartu arrived in
Russia.
On Wednesday, the court extended his detention by 72 hours.
Reuters was not able to determine if Cartu had a lawyer.
The Canadian and Israeli embassies did not immediately respond
to comment requests.
The court said Cartu could be charged under Russia's fraud
statute, which carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
"Cartu is not employed, has no permanent place of residence in
St. Petersburg, but he has a passport of a foreign citizen,
which makes it possible (for him) to cross the border of the
Russian Federation without hindrance, thus preventing an
extradition inspection," the court said.
Moscow and Washington do not have an extradition treaty.
The U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to a comment
request.
Cartu was separately accused of fraud in Canada relating to a
fraudulent binary options scheme targeting Ontarians, according
to a September 2020 statement from the Ontario Securities
Commission.
Cartu's arrest comes less than a month after Russia and the
West, led by the United States, conducted the largest prisoner
swap since the Cold War, exchanging 16 people held in Russia and
Belarus for eight Russians jailed in the West.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by
Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
