LOS ANGELES : Convicted Swiss Swindler Is Held for Extradition
A Swiss financier, caught in Los Angeles last week after he fled his native country following a conviction for securities fraud, was ordered held without bail Wednesday until an extradition hearing.
Joachim Leuthi was convicted in Switzerland of swindling stock market investors out of more than $100 million. He failed to show up for sentencing in November, 1992, according to federal prosecutors.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Reichmann, in ordering Leuthi held without bail, apparently agreed with prosecutors that Leuthi might leave Los Angeles before a hearing to send him back to Zurich.
Leuthi, 45, had been living in Marina del Rey under the alias Terry Sexton, Assistant U.S. Atty. Maurice Suh said.
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