16 Jan 2003

Vanuatu businessman to stand trial in US on moneylaundering charges

6:17 pm on 16 January 2003

The Vanuatu government says Robert Bohn, a naturalised citizen of Vanuatu, will go on trial in the US in March on charges of money laundering, conspiracy, racketeering, mail fraud and smuggling.

Bohn is one of the principals in the company that controls Vanuatu's shipping registry.

He was arrested in New Orleans in November and remains in custody in a prison in Tennessee.

Earlier this week, the National Right Wing Movement urged the government to hand over to the FBI Bohn's business partner, Tom Bayer, who is also a naturalised Vanuatu citizen.

The FBI has claimed that Mr Bayer and Bohn are members of an international organisation, which runs a multi-million dollar scam in Canada, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand.