Spain Releases Auto Exec Wanted in U.S.

A national court judge in Spain released without bail a Spanish auto engineer wanted in the United States for allegedly stealing confidential data from General Motors Corp. However, Judge Juan del Olmo told Jose Luis Lopez de Arriortua, a former GM executive, that he could not leave Spain and took his passport, ordering him to appear weekly before the court. At the hearing, Lopez de Arriortua denied all U.S. charges against him and said he opposes his extradition to the United States on health grounds related to a serious car accident in 1998. A panel of national court judges will take up the extradition case and will examine Lopez de Arriortua’s medical records. If the court decides to recommend extradition, the final decision still rests with the Spanish government. Lopez de Arriortua was indicted in May by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges of wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property and transportation of a victim of a scheme to defraud.

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