British fugitive to be extradited

ONE of Britain’s most wanted fugitives is soon to be extradited back to Britain, after being apprehended in South Africa earlier this month.

Martin Evans, 52, smiled in Randburg Magistrates’ Court, Johannesburg, where he was deemed suitable for extradition on Monday.

Evans, a former winner of the Young Businessman of the Year for Wales award, is best-known for his ‘ostrich farm’ scam, in which he swindled nearly £1 million (€1.25 million) from investors. At the sentencing he declined to appeal the extradition decision.

In 2006 he was jailed for 21 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and fraudulent trading, but escaped in 2011 whilst on day-release.   

Evans was arrested on August 2 by South African officers, following a joint investigation involving the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Interpol.

Evans’ life of crime began in the mid-1990s, when he set up an ostrich farm which failed to produce the 70 per cent annual profits he had promised his investors, leaving him to pocket more than £900,000 (€1.1 million) in ill-gotten gains.

Evans later fled to Spain and Holland, from where he is believed to have transported at least £3 million (€3.75 million) in ecstasy and cocaine into the UK. He was caught in November 2001 attempting to enter the US.

Due to security reasons, there is still no fixed date for Martin Evans’ extradition. 

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