Pak businessman Naqvi loses final battle to US extradition on fraud charges

Pakistan's collapsed private equity company Abraaj Group's founder Arif Naqvi lost his final battle against extradition from London to the United States over the charges of fraud, Dawn reported.

In the US, prosecutors allege that Naqvi was the mastermind behind defrauding the investors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as their government-run agency "Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)."

After this, Naqvi challenged the approval of his extradition in 2021 in the London High Court, but Judge Jonathan Swift refused the Pakistani national's permission to bring a judicial review against the 2021 approval of his extradition to the United States by the then-home secretary Priti Patel.

Lawyers representing the US government, however, maintained that Naqvi has been given assurances that prosecutors will not oppose bail before he stands trial if the extradition takes place, reported Dawn.

US government lawyer Mark Summers argued that the judge in Naqvi's case, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, is the same who granted bail to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, arguing that it is a "strong indication" that he too will be granted bail.

Naqvi's lawyers, however, believe that allowing or denying bail is the judge's discretion and that the US authorities will change their mind if he is extradited.

Judge Swift denied the appeal and ruled on Wednesday that there had been no "material change" in prison conditions since the 2021 ruling approving Naqvi's extradition. The judge also said that his suicide risk could be 'adequately managed' if he was held in a US prison.

Naqvi is currently on bail after lodging Euro 15mn security pending the extradition proceedings. He is living with his family at his apartment near Hyde Park, according to Dawn.

The businessman who is the founder of the collapsed Abraaj Group was arrested in the UK on April 10, 2019, and was granted conditional bail for USD 20 million.

US prosecutors accused the Abraaj Group founder of misappropriating more than USD 250 million in a widening investigation into the world's biggest failed private equity firm, as per Dawn report.

( With inputs from ANI )