US Extradites Ex-Colombian Minister Convicted Of Embezzlement - Justice Dept.

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published July 12, 2019 | 11:37 PM

The US government extradited a former Colombian Minister who was convicted of embezzlement and illegal contracting, the Justice Department said on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2019) The US government extradited a former Colombian Minister who was convicted of embezzlement and illegal contracting, the Justice Department said on Friday.

"The United States today extradited Andres Felipe Arias Leiva, who served as Colombia's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2005 to 2009, to face a prison sentence in that country based on a 2014 conviction by the Supreme Court of Colombia for two offenses committed while Arias served in public office," the department said in a press release.

In July 2014, a Colombian Federal court convicted Arias of embezzlement and illegal government contracting, release added.

The release said Arias came to the United States in 2014 and lived in Florida. The Colombian court sentenced Arias to serve about 17 and a half years in prison, the release noted.