Swiss courts rejected multiple appeals to free Russian IT specialist Vladislav Klyushin.
ZURICH - Switzerland said it extradited a Russian IT specialist with Kremlin ties to the US, where he faces charges of insider trading.
Swiss courts rejected multiple appeals to free Vladislav Klyushin, who worked with the Kremlin and Russian government ministries. He was detained in March on a request by US federal prosecutors after stepping off a private jet at Sion, Switzerland, on his way to a skiing holiday with his family.
On Saturday (Dec 18), US agents took Klyushin into custody at Zurich airport for a flight to the US, the Swiss Justice Department said in a statement. Prosecutors in Massachusetts allege that Klyushin conducted insider trading involving tens of millions of dollars with several accomplices, according to the department.
Klyushin's lawyer, Mr Oliver Ciric, has said his client views the US allegations as a politically motivated pretext for extradition. Klyushin's work on IT solutions for the Russian governments means he has information of interest to US intelligence, Mr Ciric has alleged.
Records of Russian state contracts show Klyushin's M13 company provided a media-monitoring system called Katyusha to the Defence Ministry.
It also provided services to the National Guard, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Justice Ministry and Moscow city government.
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