US victory in extradition battle

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The government of the United States has won a partial victory in its long-running battle to extradite the British hotelier Stanley Tollman.

The 77-year-old is wanted in connection with bank fraud charges worth £45m.

Two High Court judges in London ruled extradition was not rendered "oppressive" by the fact the alleged offences were committed 16 years ago.

But the judges ruled it would be oppressive to extradite Mr Tollman's wife Beatrice, 75, because she is ill.

They held that Mrs Tollman's failing health provided the only ground on which her husband might avoid being sent to the US.

Mrs Tollman is suffering from a depressive illness.

Fraud charges

The Tollmans, who run a string of luxury hotels in Britain, Switzerland, America and South Africa, have spent four years fighting attempts to have them handed over to the jurisdiction of the American courts.

They are accused of offences involving bank and tax fraud, which they deny.

The High Court judges ruled it would not be unjust for Mr Tollman to be extradited to face charges that he defrauded US banks in relation to loans made to Tollman-Hundley Hotels, which he co-founded.

Lord Justice Moses said Mr Tollman left the US for Britain days before being indicted in New York in April 2002.

The four co-accused individuals were convicted of conspiracy, and one of them was jailed for eight years.

Leave to appeal

Lord Justice Moses said: "To expect a man of 77 to face trial in relation to offences alleged to have been committed when he was already over 60 does not lead us to the conclusion that it would be unjust to do so."

Mr Tollman's extradition application was sent back to the senior London district judge in charge of the case, to decide whether endangering Mrs Tollman's health by extraditing her husband would amount to "oppression" against him.

If it did, then this would be sufficient to justify refusal of extradition.

Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Ouseley were told that the US authorities would seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords against the parts of the judgment which went against them.

Mr Tollman is a former non-executive director of Chelsea Football Club, who was brought onto the board by its former chairman Ken Bates in 1982.