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The UK Supreme Court docket has quashed the extradition to the US of a dealer accused of insider buying and selling in an uncommon resolution by British judges to curb the attain of American justice.
The UK’s highest court docket on Wednesday dominated in favour of Joseph El-Khouri, who US prosecutors claimed netted $2mn in income from an insider buying and selling conspiracy.
El-Khouri, a twin British and Lebanese nationwide who lives within the UK, was charged in New York in 2019 and accused of acquiring inside details about potential mergers and acquisitions of New York-listed corporations.
The Manhattan US legal professional’s workplace claimed he paid an middleman for the knowledge in money and items together with a yacht in Greece, a chalet in France and a resort room in New York, and traded “contracts for distinction” by a UK dealer.
El-Khouri resisted extradition and accused the American authorities of over-reach, arguing that any hyperlinks to the US had been tenuous because the alleged misconduct befell in London.
A decrease court docket had beforehand allowed his extradition after a listening to in 2021 and the UK authorities ordered that El-Khouri be despatched to the US. An preliminary enchantment by the dealer on the Excessive Court docket in London failed.
However a panel of 5 senior judges, led by the Supreme Court docket president Lord Robert Reed, on Wednesday unanimously dominated in his favour, blocking his removing on the grounds that the alleged criminality occurred exterior the US.
The court docket famous that the UK’s Monetary Conduct Authority performed an investigation into El-Khouri between November 2016 and January 2018 however had concluded there was inadequate proof to prosecute him.
El-Khouri’s lawyer, Richard Cannon of Stokoe Partnership Solicitors, mentioned the ruling “brings to an finish a five-and-a-half-year nightmare” that started along with his arrest in 2019.
He added that the choice “represents an vital examine on over-reach” by the US authorities.
The US state division in London didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
