Grand jury indicts Mastros; extradition to US imminent
Oct 25, 2012, 5:37 PM | Updated: 5:53 pm
Michael Mastro, 87, and his wife face 43 counts of bankruptcy fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle announced Thursday. (AP Photo/File)
(AP Photo/File)
A federal grand jury in Seattle has indicted a former real estate magnate and his wife, who were arrested in France this week and now face extradition back to the United States.
Michael Mastro, 87, and his wife Linda Mastro, 62, face 43 counts of bankruptcy fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle announced Thursday.
Acting at the behest of the FBI, French police took the couple into custody Wednesday in Doussard, a town in the French Alps, according to The Seattle Times.
They appeared before a French judge Thursday, who ordered them detained.
“Those who flaunt the law and ignore our legal process will be held to account,” First Assistant United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes said in a statement Thursday. “Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of law enforcement both here and abroad, the Mastros have been arrested and will face the charges that the Grand Jury returned in their indictment today.”
The couple disappeared in June 2011 after a bankruptcy judge ordered them to turn over two diamond rings valued at $1.4 million.
The federal indictment claims they attempted to hide their assets from creditors and concealed a bank account of more than $760,000. The account was allegedly used to pay for car loans on a 2006 Range Rover, a 2007 Bentley Continental, and a 2008 Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe, among other expenses.
The couple intends to fight extradition.
