Austrian banker loses fight against extradition to U.S. on Odebrecht charges

(Corrects spelling of lawyer's name to "Pack" in paragaph 5)

LONDON (Reuters) -The former chief executive of an Austrian bank can be extradited to the United States in relation to a bribery and money laundering conspiracy involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, a London court ruled on Monday.

Peter Weinzierl – former chief executive of Meinl Bank, later renamed Anglo Austrian AAB Bank – is accused of helping launder hundreds of millions of dollars in a scheme involving the use of slush funds to bribe public officials.

The 57-year-old Austrian national denies the allegations and fought against his extradition on a number of grounds, including that he was "lured" to Britain in May 2021 by an alleged U.S. law enforcement agent in order to arrest him.

But Judge Paul Goldspring rejected Weinzierl's challenge to his extradition, saying in a written ruling on Monday that Weinzierl had not been lured to Britain.

David Pack, Weinzierl's lawyer, said in a statement that Weinzierl intended to appeal against the ruling, describing it as "just another example of the UK courts buckling to the U.S. authorities abusing this country's extradition laws".

Weinzierl faces charges in New York for his alleged role in a massive fraud and bribery scheme involving Odebrecht, which changed its name in 2020 to Novonor SA, after its name became synonymous with graft.

Odebrecht has admitted it doled out bribes to governments across Latin America to help build its vast construction empire.

In 2016, Odebrecht and its parent company, Braskem, Brazil's largest petrochemicals company, agreed to pay at least $3.5 billion to settle bribery-related charges brought by U.S., Brazilian and Swiss regulators.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Sarah Young)