NASSAU, Bahamas (AP):
A BAHAMIAN judge refused to grant bail to a businessman facing extradition to the U.S. for allegedly bribing top officials in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan for favourable treatment in oil deals, the prosecution said yesterday.
Kozeny was arrested by police on October 5 in the Bahamas, where he is a legal resident. Kozeny and two other men were charged on October 6 in a 27-count indictment in federal court in Manhattan.
The indictment said Kozeny, 42, was president and chairman of Oily Rock Group Ltd. and Minaret Group Ltd. when he and Frederic Bourke Jr. and David Pinkerton tried to buy off senior Azerbaijan officials with funds fraudulently obtained in the U.S.
Azerbaijan, rich in oil resources, began privatising some of its state-owned enterprises in the 1990s. But the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which the three men allegedly violated, makes it a crime to offer payment to foreign officials to obtain or retain business.
BAIL DENIED
Judge Carolita Bethel denied bail to Kozeny in a Friday hearing, when prosecutors argued that Kozeny - a pilot with Czech, Irish, Venezuelan and possibly other passports - is a serious flight risk. She also ruled he must remain in a maximum-security unit in Fox Hill prison in the capital, Nassau, said prosecutor Francis Cumberbatch.
Defence lawyers said they would appeal the decision. No appeal has been filed yet, but they have until Friday, Cumberbatch said.
An extradition hearing is scheduled for December 1.
