Kozeny released on bail

Czech-born financier Viktor Kozeny, wanted both by the Czech and US authorities on corruption charges, has been released on bail from Nassau's Fox Hill Prison in the Bahamas. Kozeny, now an Irish citizen, made a huge profit from the coupon-privatization scheme in Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s and left the country before he could be prosecuted for embezzling property worth up to 16 billion crowns. He is also accused of being the driving force behind a multi-million dollar bribery scheme in Azerbaijan in which US investors lost huge sums of money. Kozeny is charged with conspiracy to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and could face a 25 year prison term in the United States if convicted. He has appealed a verdict that enabled his extradition to the United States and was released on bail after US lawyers missed the date of a hearing that would have completed the extradition process. The hearing has been re-scheduled for June 23rd.