MADRID (AP) — A Spanish court has approved the temporary extradition to the United States of a former Venezuelan official being investigated in a bribery scheme involving Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA.
The extradition of Nervis Villalobos would be for a maximum of six months, according to the ruling issued Thursday by National Court Judge Ismael Moreno. U.S. authorities had requested a minimum of one year.
Lawyers in Spain for Villalobos, who was Venezuela's deputy minister for energy between 2001 and 2006, say they have appealed.
Villalobos is also being investigated in Spain for possible money laundering and bribery.
He was charged last year in Andorra with 27 others for the alleged plundering of $2 billion from PDVSA between 2007 and 2012.
