Canadian Judge Rejects Extradition of Fugitive

The United States has failed in its first attempt to have fugitive Orange County businessman Charles J. McVey II extradited from Canada on forgery charges, but prosecutors will appeal the decision to the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

Justice John Bouck of the British Columbia Supreme Court, ruling on a habeas corpus application Monday, found that because McVey is not charged specifically with forgery in the United States, he cannot be extradited on that charge.

Bouck found McVey is charged with completing false customs documents--not forgery--and other conspiracy-related crimes.

McVey, 63, who lived in Villa Park and ran a computer export business in Anaheim before fleeing the country in 1982, is wanted in the United States for allegedly smuggling sophisticated computer equipment to the Soviet Union.

He was charged with 23 conspiracy-related charges in 1982. These were the charges he would have faced in a trial had he been extradited.

He has since been charged in California with eight counts of wire fraud and devising and participating in a scheme to defraud Saxpy Computer Corp. of its proprietary rights to the design and operation of the Saxpy Matrix-1 Super Computer.

Those charges form the basis of a second extradition hearing, which resumes Thursday. McVey, who was arrested while on a fishing holiday in northern Canada, remains in custody.

In the judgment handed down Monday, Bouck said McVey “cannot be extradited to the United States since he is not charged in the U.S. with a crime described in the (U.S.-Canada extradition) treaty which was committed within the U.S.” The decision overturned an April 8 ruling by Justice Patrick Dohm who, while sitting as an extradition judge, ruled that McVey should be extradited.