An Australian judge has denied bail for Richard Chichakli, the Viktor Bout associate arrested last month after he applied for a government job under an alias. U.S. officials plan to extradite Chichakli back to New York to face trial on charges related to the conspiracy case that landed Bout in a federal penetentiary.
Magistrate Duncan Reynolds last week rejected an application by Chichakli’s Australian lawyer to allow him out on bail. Reynolds said Bout’s 25-year prison term after his conviction in New York in 2011 heightened Chichakli’s possible motive to flee.
An Australian federal police agent said Chichakli “played a significant role” in setting up and managing Bout’s companies and moving his money _ an accusation that echoes U.S. allegations that Chichakli was Bout’s key financial manager.
The police agent said Chichakli entered Australia in June, 2010 using a Syrian passport in the name of Jehad Almustafa. He was accompanied by a woman, Yulia Flyagina. After fleeing the U.S. in 2005 as the U.S. Treasury Department lodged tough financial sanctions against him, Chichakli turned up in Moscow, where he acted as an intermediary for Bout. From Moscow, Chichakli also operated a website that defended Bout and promoted his own interests as an accountant and a creator of culinary fruit plates.
The police agent said officials were tipped off to Chichakli’s presence in Australia by his fingerprints after he applied for a job as a protective services officer. Chichakli had an Australian Medicare card, driver’s license and had taken six overseas trips _ despite being targeted by a United Nations international travel ban.
—The Age, “International fugitive Richard Chichakli who had been living quietly in Melbourne with his Russian girlfriend for more than two years before his arrest last month on Thursday lost his bid to walk free on bail.”