NATION : U.S. Extradites Khashoggi to Face Charges of Aiding Marcos in Fraud

Adnan Khashoggi, once the world’s richest arms dealer, was extradited from Switzerland to New York today to face charges that he helped ousted Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos in a massive fraud scheme.

Khashoggi, escorted by two police officers, flew first-class on a Swissair plane for New York three months after he was arrested in a Bern hotel on a U.S. warrant. The jet-setting Saudi Arabian dropped his efforts to avoid extradition when the Swiss said he could face only obstruction-of-justice and mail-fraud charges in the United States and not two more serious offenses--racketeering and conspiracy. The obstruction-of-justice and mail-fraud charges carry maximum five-year jail terms versus 20-year prison sentences for the other charges.

Prosecutors said they want Khashoggi, who was to be arraigned late this afternoon, to be denied bail on charges that he helped Marcos hide ownership of several Manhattan skyscrapers that the exiled Philippine leader allegedly bought with money looted from his country’s treasury.

The Swiss Justice Department said it had rejected the U.S. request that he be turned over to be tried on racketeering and conspiracy charges because the charges are not criminal offenses in Switzerland.