MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s High Court has ordered that former senior U.N. official Vitaly Vanshelboim be extradited to the United States where he is accused of taking bribes and money laundering, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian national, served in high-ranking roles within the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS) until he was placed on administrative leave in 2021 and subsequently dismissed in 2023.
He was arrested in Spain in March on an international warrant issued by the Southern District Court of New York.
Vanshelboim is accused of accepting at least $2 million in bribes from a British businessman in exchange for diverting over $60 million in UNOPS grants and loans to his companies and of laundering money related to these schemes.
Before a U.N. dispute tribunal last year, Vanshelboim admitted to undisclosed and unauthorised financial relationships with the businessman.
During his testimony to Spanish authorities earlier this month, however, he said he was being persecuted over a book he began writing in 2023 about U.S. interventions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
Vanshelboim’s defence counsel was not immediately reachable on Tuesday.
Challenging his extradition, the court document showed his defence cited U.N. immunity, a lack of U.S. jurisdiction, double jeopardy, ongoing proceedings elsewhere and political motivations.
But the three-judge panel ruled those claims lacked evidence.
Vanshelboim’s alleged crimes occurred between 2015 and 2023 and involved the misuse of his UNOPS position and concealment of illicit payments, the document said.
The panel said it had found sufficient grounds for extradition on bribery, wire fraud and money laundering charges, but denied extradition for three conspiracy charges as that crime does not exist under Spanish law.
The court’s decision is subject to appeal and final approval by the Spanish government.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Joe Bavier)
