Russian businessman and alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death," said on Thursday he was not surprised at the new indictment brought against him in New York.
The Southern District of the New York Court found Bout and his alleged associate Richard Chichakli guilty on Wednesday of violating the 1995 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for concealing millions in arms sales profits.
"This did not come as a surprise to me. Everything was quite predictable. Those people in the U.S. who earned money from political gambling around me and spent colossal amounts should have invented something to avoid responsibility for budget expenses," Bout told RIA Novosti in Bangkok where he has been detained.
The new indictment charges Bout with supplying two Boeing planes to Liberia's former president Charles Taylor in 2004, bypassing UN sanctions and IEEPA. As much as $1.7 million had been transferred for the delivery finally blocked by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Taylor is currently on trial for his alleged role in a bloody insurgency in Sierra Leone.
The U.S. court also accused Bout and Chichakli of conspiracy, money laundering and wire fraud.
Bout expressed hope that common sense would take the upper hand. "It has become even more obvious that my case is of a political character," he said.
"Now everything depends on the Thai authorities. I hope common sense will prevail, and I will finally return home," Bout said.
U.S. prosecutors said they would now seek Bout's extradition from Thailand again in light of the new charges.
Former Russian army officer Bout, 42, remains in custody in a Thai jail after the Bangkok Criminal Court refused in August to extradite him to the United States, where he is facing four terrorism-related charges and a possible life sentence. He has repeatedly denied the accusations.
BANGKOK, February 18 (RIA Novosti)
