The local judiciary has accepted that attorney Peter Karam is no longer the subject of an extradition request from Argentina.
The matter came up for a hearing before Chief Magistrate Jolyon Hatmin on Friday, June 11, during which time the court dispensed with the issue of his possible extradition.
It came several weeks after an Argentine court dismissed its application for Karam’s extradition, as he agreed to provide testimony in a major money crime trial in the South American country.
Karam now has full possession of his passport which was being held by local authorities as part of his bail conditions in the TCI as the extradition issue was being resolved.
He will soon travel to the Argentine embassy in Miami, USA, where he will appear virtually to give his testimony in the case.
Karam’s testimony is expected to shed light on the part he may or may not have played in a multi-million-dollar money laundering scheme out of Argentina, a fraction of which was to be invested in a resort in the TCI.
Following intensive investigations by Argentine officials, the bribery and money laundering operation was busted, revealing tens of millions of dollars in bribe money paid to now deceased ex-government official Daniel Muñoz.
Muñoz fleeced millions from business people to curry favour with the Néstor Kirchner administration, while serving as the president’s private secretary.
After his death, his wife Caroline Pochetti spilled the beans on the operation — at which point Karam’s name came up.
In her disclosures to Argentine authorities, Pochetti said the Canadian-born attorney and several others had travelled to Argentina for business in relation to the development of a resort in the TCI in the north west district of Providenciales.
That crescendoed into Interpol Red Notices being issued for Karam and several others around the world — named by the widow — to be detained for questioning.
Argentine authorities now want the lawyer to appear before court as a witness to offer information on his visit to Argentina and any meetings with the named suspects.
Karam has maintained his innocence, and continues to state that his visit to the South American country had nothing to do with a money laundering operation.
