Vladimir Antonov, a former shareholder of Lithuania's collapsed Snoras bank, has been extradited from France after the country's highest court approved his transfer, sources have said.
Antonov had been living in western France under an assumed identity when he was detained there last December, following a European Arrest Warrant issued by Lithuania's Prosecutor General's Office.
On May 13, the French Court of Cassation rejected his appeal against extradition, clearing the way for his handover. He was required to be transferred by May 28 at the latest.
The Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, which carried out the escort operation, had been tasked with bringing him from France within 10 to 15 days of of a final ruling issued on May 13.
The transfer could have been conducted by air, sea or road, with French authorities designating the handover location. The Prosecutor General's Office declined to confirm whether a formal transfer request had been submitted, saying it could not provide that information.
Antonov and fellow former Snoras shareholder Raimondas Baranauskas have both been convicted in Lithuania of eight intentional crimes. Antonov is regarded as the principal organiser of the offences.
The Vilnius Regional Court has ordered the pair to pay €375 million in damages and has confiscated assets worth €105 million. Total losses to Snoras and its creditors are estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros.
Snoras was nationalised and its operations suspended in 2011. Its liquidation is still ongoing.
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