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Israel to Extradite ‘crazy Eddie’

January 5, 1993
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Eddie Antar, known in the United States as the electronics cut-rate entrepreneur “Crazy Eddie,” is to be escorted back to the United States shortly to face fraud charges, under an extradition order signed Sunday by Israeli Justice Minister David Libai.

The order was signed only after Antar’s American lawyer, Jack Arsenault, reached an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department stipulating that he will only be tried for offenses committed prior to 1988, when he became an Israeli citizen.

Under the deal, Antar will not be tried for fleeing America while due to stand trial, or being in possession of forged documents.

He left the United States after he was ordered in June 1990 by the Justice Department to pay somewhere between $50 million and $83 million he allegedly obtained by defrauding customers and illegally transferred to Bank Leumi in Israel.

He was captured in June living in Yavneh, Israel, under the false identity of David Cohen from Brazil. Antar, whose age has been reported between 44 and 46, is reportedly suffering from liver and kidney disease.

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