Have you committed a "tax crime"—or any other crime—that could be prosecuted in the United States? If you have, you should know that there are few if any practical limits to U.S. jurisdiction if Uncle Sam wants to bring you before its courts.
Whether it's through an extradition treaty, deportation, or even kidnapping, it's perfectly legal—at least under U.S. law—for U.S. authorities to take "any means necessary" to accomplish this goal.
The best-known method for the United States to bring someone from outside its territorial jurisdiction before its courts is via an extradition treaty. The United States has extradition treaties in force with over 100 countries. The largest countries that don't have extradition treaties with the United States are China, Indonesia, Russia, and South Korea.
Extradition to the requesting country is subject to the laws, procedures, and policies of the requested country. However, even if there is no extradition treaty in effect—or if the offense with which you are charged (e.g., violations of U.S. economic sanctions against particular countries) isn't covered in the particular treaty—the United States has numerous alternatives to bring you before its courts.
For instance, U.S. authorities might try to nab you when you travel internationally. Let's say you're a Russian national who travels internationally on their Russian passport. While you've never set foot in the United States, you have an e-mail account at G-Mail, a U.S.-based e-mail service. Through this account, you've transacted considerable business with companies in Iran—a country against which the United States has imposed economic sanctions.
Under U.S. law, using the G-Mail account may well provide U.S. prosecutors with jurisdiction to indict you for violations under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA). The fact you've never visited the United States won't prevent an indictment. Nor will it prevent an increasing number of governments from extraditing you to the United States if you set foot there.
For instance, the U.K.-U.S. extradition treaty eliminates most evidentiary requirements for extradition. Since the United States now reportedly has access to airline passenger manifests from persons flying into our out of the United Kingdom, it can easily screen these names against those persons it wants to extradite. Should you fly from Moscow to London, it's possible that when you arrive, police will take you into custody and place you into detention. Depending on the nature of your alleged offenses, you may—or may not—be able to avoid extradition to the United States. Welcome to the USA!
The United States can also request that you be deported to its custody, so long as you are present in a particular country, if only for a brief visit. For instance, when the U.S. Department of Justice wanted to bring offshore tax scammer Marc Harris to the United States from Nicaragua, it didn't use the U.S.-Nicaraguan extradition treaty. Instead, it issued an Interpol notice, which many of Interpol's 186 members treat as a valid request for provisional arrest. After arresting Harris, Nicaraguan authorities deported him to the United States, where he was subsequently tried and convicted for tax evasion and money laundering.
What if you live in a country with no extradition treaty with the United States and never travel outside that country? In that event, U.S. authorities can carry out an "extraordinary rendition" to bring you into U.S. custody. This essentially amounts to sending undercover operatives into the country, kidnapping you, and bringing you back to the United States. Numerous alleged "enemy combatants" now awaiting trial before military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba arrived via extraordinary renditions. And, in case you wondered, the Supreme Court has blessed the practice of kidnapping criminal suspects, even where an extradition treaty is in effect.
What should you do if you've been accused of a crime in the United States, but live elsewhere? Certainly, you should hire a competent attorney in your own country to advise you of your options. One option might be to approach the authorities in your own country and request that you be prosecuted under its laws. The punishment may be much less than what you would face in the United States, and under most conditions, you can't be extradited for a crime for which you've already been tried.
Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann
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