Updated with comments from the U.S. Embassy, the Russian ambassador and Chukarev's parents. At 11:45 a.m. Costa Rican authorities escorted a handcuffed Maxim Chukharev on to a United flight 1081 bound for Newark, New Jersey. Chukharev, 27, will face trial in the United States along with four other co-defendants for his alleged role in what's considered largest money laundering scandal in history.
Arthur Budovsky is accused of being the "principal founder" of Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rica-based digital currency service alleged by the U.S. Justice Department to have laundered more than $6 billion for criminals.
MADRID – Arthur Budovsky, founder of the electronic payment platform Liberty Reserve, in a court appearance Monday denied committing any crimes and said he would fight U.S. efforts to extradite him from Spain. Spanish prosecutors, however, appeared in favor of granting the U.S. request.
U.S. prosecutors accuse 27-year-old Maxim Chukharev of helping build the biggest money laundering operation in history, Costa Rica-based online currency company Liberty Reserve. But Chukharev says he’s an innocent pawn in a high-stakes political drama.
The FBI asked the Costa Rican woman who married the online currency company's founder, Arthur Budovsky, to testify in a money laundering trial in the U.S.
