An American businessman was extradited to the U.S. from Romania on Friday to face charges related to an alleged multimillion-dollar scam to rig contract bids in Iraq, the state news agency Rompres reported. Seymour Morris Jr., 61, had asked the Bucharest Appeals' Court to extradite him on April 18, saying he had faith in the U.S. legal system. He has denied the charges since his arrest in early February, according to AP. Morris, who had been held in a Bucharest jail, had been denied bail. He flew to New York by plane early Friday, Rompres reported. Morris was arrested by Romanian authorities after a U.S. court indicted him and four others _ including three military officers _ for allegedly stealing or misusing US$3.6 million (¤2.67 million) in reconstruction funds managed by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. Morris, who has lived and worked in Romania with his Romanian-born wife since 1995, is accused of acting as a go-between for the three indicted officers and a construction company by illegally wiring money and securing goods, according to the 25-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The case is part of a wider U.S. investigation into Iraq contracts worth US$8.6 million ¤6.38 million that were awarded to construction mogul Philip H. Bloom, who owned a business in Romania. -- SPA
