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Spanish court orders ex-UN official extradited to US in bribery case
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Spain's High Court orders Vitaly Vanshelboim extradited to the US for bribery and money laundering, denying conspiracy charges.
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's High Court has ordered that former senior U.N. official Vitaly Vanshelboim be extradited to the United States where he is accused of taking bribes and money laundering, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian national, served in high-ranking roles within the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS) until he was placed on administrative leave in 2021 and subsequently dismissed in 2023.
He was arrested in Spain in March on an international warrant issued by the Southern District Court of New York.
Vanshelboim is accused of accepting at least $2 million in bribes from a British businessman in exchange for diverting over $60 million in UNOPS grants and loans to his companies and of laundering money related to these schemes.
Before a U.N. dispute tribunal last year, Vanshelboim admitted to undisclosed and unauthorised financial relationships with the businessman.
During his testimony to Spanish authorities earlier this month, however, he said he was being persecuted over a book he began writing in 2023 about U.S. interventions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
Vanshelboim's defence counsel was not immediately reachable on Tuesday.
Challenging his extradition, the court document showed his defence cited U.N. immunity, a lack of U.S. jurisdiction, double jeopardy, ongoing proceedings elsewhere and political motivations.
But the three-judge panel ruled those claims lacked evidence.
Vanshelboim's alleged crimes occurred between 2015 and 2023 and involved the misuse of his UNOPS position and concealment of illicit payments, the document said.
The panel said it had found sufficient grounds for extradition on bribery, wire fraud and money laundering charges, but denied extradition for three conspiracy charges as that crime does not exist under Spanish law.
The court's decision is subject to appeal and final approval by the Spanish government.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Joe Bavier)
Money laundering is the process of making illegally obtained money appear legitimate. It typically involves three steps: placement, layering, and integration, which disguise the origins of the funds.
Bribery is the act of giving or receiving something of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in a position of authority. It is considered a form of corruption.
An international financial institution (IFI) is an organization that provides financial support and advice for economic development projects in developing countries. Examples include the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Wire fraud is a type of financial fraud that involves the use of electronic communications or an interstate communications facility to commit illegal activities, such as transferring money obtained through deceit.
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