Canadian Court Refuses to Extradite Fugitive

Fugitive Charles McVey, a former Anaheim businessman, has won another round in British Columbia courts in his fight against extradition to the United States.

But McVey, 63, won’t be set free until the charges against him go through appeal hearings.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed a U.S. government request Thursday that McVey be extradited for falsifying documents allegedly used in the sale of supercomputer technology to the Soviet Union.

The court ruled that McVey couldn’t be extradited for the offense because it is not one of the crimes listed in the Canada-U.S. extradition treaty.

Three appeal court justices agreed with the earlier ruling by Supreme Court Justice John Bouck that the crime for which McVey is wanted in California is not an extraditable offense in Canada.

Owned Businesses

In California, McVey lived in Villa Park and owned several high-technology businesses in Anaheim before he was indicted in 1983. McVey had been a fugitive for 4 years when he was arrested in August, 1987, while on a fishing trip in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

The federal indictment charged McVey and two others--Rold Leinhard, a Swiss national, and Yuri Boyarinov, a Soviet national--with illegally exporting $15 million worth of state-of-the-art computers and peripheral equipment to the Soviet Union during a 4 1/2-year period. They also were charged with conspiracy and making false statements to government officials.

According to the indictment, McVey ordered the equipment to be delivered to his Orange County companies, where his staff modified it and shipped it to Leinhard, a freight forwarder in Zurich, Switzerland. Leinhard then shipped the computer products to Boyarinov, a senior consultant with V/O Electronorgtechnica, which acted as a Soviet purchasing agency.

McVey had visited the Soviet Union several times and sent an associate to conduct training classes for Soviet computer technicians, the indictment said.

Listed Forgery

Defense lawyer Robert Anderson said Canadian authorities, acting for the U.S. Justice Department, listed the crime for which McVey is sought as forgery in order to have him extradited to stand trial in the United States.

Forgery is included in the treaty, but because McVey’s alleged conduct doesn’t constitute forgery in the United States, the appeal court said he cannot be extradited on the charge.

McVey, who fled the United States ahead of a grand jury indictment, was arrested in the tiny Yukon community of Teslin Lake. He had been living in Malta but came to Teslin Lake for a holiday.

Last Aug. 5, McVey was ordered extradited on separate charges of wire fraud and defrauding the defunct Saxpy Computer Corp.

He is appealing that ruling and will remain in custody at the Vancouver pretrial center, where he has been held since his arrest.