According to officials in Peru, where Joran van der Sloot has been serving time for the death of a Peruvian lady, the main suspect in the 2005 disappearance of the deceased American girl Natalee Holloway will be extradited to the US to face extortion and fraud charges.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Justice and Human Rights Minister Daniel Maurate Romero said Peru “decided to agree to the request for temporary surrender… (of van der Sloot)… for his prosecution in the United States for the alleged commission of the crimes of extortion and fraud” against Holloway’s mother.
Van der Sloot and Holloway were last seen together in Aruba 18 years ago.
Separately, van der Sloot was found guilty in 2012 of killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in his hotel room in Lima and received a 28-year prison term.
Van der Sloot, a Dutch native, has been charged with federal extortion and wire fraud in the US in connection with a scheme to sell knowledge of the location of Holloway’s remains for $250,000, according to officials.
According to the accusation, Beth Holloway, the mother of the missing 18-year-old, transferred $15,000 to van der Sloot’s Dutch bank account and personally gave him another $10,000. Van der Sloot allegedly showed John Kelly, the lawyer, where Natalee Holloway’s supposed remains were hidden after receiving the initial $25,000, but the information turned out to be untrue, according to the indictment.
Van der Sloot’s accusation demands that he surrender $25,100, including $100. Van der Sloot was initially sent to by Beth Holloway in order to verify his account.
In the early hours of May 30, 2005, Holloway and van der Sloot were last spotted leaving a nightclub in Aruba.
The three men—van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, Deepak and Satish—were detained in 2005 but later released for lack of proof. Rearrested in 2007, they were accused of “involvement in the voluntary manslaughter of Natalee Holloway or in causing serious bodily harm to Natalee Holloway, resulting in her death,” according to Aruban authorities at the time.
However, a few weeks later, an Aruban judge granted van der Sloot’s release on the grounds that there was no proof that Holloway was the victim of or that van der Sloot was complicit in any violent crime. Also liberated were the Kalpoe brothers.
The body of Holloway has not been located. She was ruled legally dead in 2012 by a judge in Alabama.
“We are at last receiving justice,” According to the mother, Van der Sloot’s extradition from Peru to the US was scheduled to start on Thursday, according to George Seymore, the CEO of Patriot Strategies, which is the family’s legal representative. However, Joran van der Sloot’s Peruvian attorney, Maximo Altez, told CNN en Espaol that he plans to challenge Peru’s decision to extradite van der Sloot so that he can face charges in the US.
Following the conclusion of the judicial processes against him in the United States, Van der Sloot will be sent back to Peru, according to the judiciary there.
The Peruvian judiciary stated on social media that “the requesting country shall keep the defendant in custody during the entire (duration of) proceedings in its territory.” “(Van der Sloot) will be immediately handed back to the Peruvian authorities after the criminal proceedings against him are over.”
As has been “long-standing practise” in such situations, the US State Department declined to clarify specifics on van der Sloot’s extradition, a representative for the department said.
The announcement of van der Sloot’s expected arrival in the US provided the Holloway family with long-needed comfort.
Natalee Holloway, then 18 years old, left Birmingham for Aruba in May 2005 to attend her high school graduation trip, and she was never heard from again, according to a family statement made public on Wednesday.
The message read, “I was fortunate to have Natalee in my life for 18 years, and as of this month, I have been without her for exactly 18 years.” She’d be 36 years old by this time. Although the path has been extremely difficult and drawn out, many people’s perseverance will eventually pay off. Together, we are securing Natalee’s justice at last.
Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama dubbed the suspect’s impending extradition to Birmingham, the city where Holloway was born, as “significant.”
Criminals like him are cunning and violent. Beth Holloway and other Alabama mothers are stronger, Ivey tweeted on Thursday. Her admirable tenacity in seeking justice for Natalee is FINALLY bearing fruit.
According to the Peruvian news agency Andina, Peru and the US have an extradition pact, and earlier Peru had agreed to deport van der Sloot only after he had completed the murder term, meaning US authorities may have had to wait until 2038.
Beth Holloway thanked the newly elected president of Peru and all of his backers.
The mother said, “I want to express my sincere gratitude to President Dina Boluarte, the President of Peru, the warm people of Peru, the family of Stephany Flores, the FBI in Miami, Florida, and in Birmingham, Alabama, the US Attorney’s office in Birmingham, the US Embassy in Peru, and the Peruvian Embassy in the US, as well as my longtime lawyer John Q. Kelly who has worked tirelessly on this case and George Seymore and Marc Wachtenheim of Patriot Strategies.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article gave the wrong date for Natalee Holloway’s last sighting. She and Joran van der Sloot were last observed together in Aruba 18 years ago.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated inaccurately that Holloway’s death was never the subject of any charges.
