New York: An Austrian banker has pleaded not guilty to US charges that he conspired to launder hundreds of millions of US dollars through the American financial system.
Peter Weinzierl, former chief executive officer of Anglo Austrian AAB Bank AG, entered his plea through his lawyer in Brooklyn, New York, last Friday after being extradited from Britain.
He had fought being sent to the United States for four years.
Weinzierl was indicted in 2020 for allegedly conspiring with Odebrecht SA – Latin America’s biggest construction company, now named Novonor – in a decade-long scheme to pay bribes to win business around the world.
Federal prosecutors allege that in one four-year period, he helped Odebrecht move more than US$170mil from New York through the bank to offshore shell accounts.
Weinzierl has denied the charges.
The bank, better known by its old name of Meinl Bank, wasn’t charged.
Michael B. Nadler, a lawyer for Weinzierl, declined to comment after a court appearance last Friday.
Weinzierl, 59, was arrested in Britain in 2021. His British lawyers said their client was “lured” by a US spy to fly his private jet to London.
Weinzierl was detained at an airfield and he later posted a bond to secure his release while he fought extradition to the United States.
Weinzierl eventually lost that extradition battle and was flown to the United States last Thursday.
Last Friday, US prosecutors said Weinzierl should remain in federal custody while awaiting trial, saying he presents a serious flight risk because he has no ties to the United States and has “substantial assets outside the country”.
“That extradition involved a years-long battle that the defendant fought at every possible step,” said prosecutor Jonathan Siegel. — Bloomberg
