An Israeli professor wanted by the United States for arms dealing, slated for extradition, has gone missing in Cyprus after a Larnaca court had released him on bail.
The professor had claimed to be a victim of a plot by the US Department of Justice to “bury” him as he came forward with dirt on US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Gal Luft was arrested at Larnaca Airport on February 16 after Interpol issued an arrest warrant against him on suspicion of arms trafficking to Libya and China.
The United States had filed an extradition request.
Deliberating on the US extradition request, the Larnaca District Court released him on bail after ordering him to pay €150,000 and put up another €250,000 with a guarantor.
Under his bail conditions, he was to present himself at the central police station of Paphos, where he lived at the time, at regular intervals.
However, Luft failed to appear at the Paphos police station on March 28, with his lawyer reporting him missing.
Luft’s abandoned vehicle was discovered a day later, and according to sources, police believe the fugitive has left the country.
He did not appear for his court date on April 3, with the €400,000 he put up as a guarantee frozen by the Larnaca court.
Larnaca police spokesperson Haris Hadjiyiasemi said another European and international arrest warrant was issued against him.
Plot twist
Earlier in the month, Luft had denied the accusations levelled against him, claiming that he is at the centre of a plot to discredit him, as he has ‘dirt’ on US President Joe Biden and his son.
On Twitter, Luft claimed he is the victim of “a politically motivated extradition request by the US”, and the US Justice Department is “trying to bury me to protect [US President Joe] Biden” and his family.
Luft, an author and energy security and diplomatic expert, is the co-director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), a think tank focused on energy, security, and economic trends.
Before his disappearance, Luft made several allegations involving the family of Joe Biden through his American lawyer, Robert Enoch.
The latter claimed that his client was being politically prosecuted because he had attempted to report to the US Department of Justice four years ago that the Chinese government-controlled company, CEFC, had financial dealings with the US President’s son, Hunter, and Joe Biden’s brother, Jim.
According to the complaint, both received monthly salaries of $100,000 and $65,000, respectively.
According to Luft’s lawyers, the suspect had learned through relationships with partners that Hunter Biden had a highly placed informant in the FBI known as “One-Eye”, who was paid handsomely for providing secret or sealed law enforcement information.
Last month it emerged that Luft had sent letters to the Israeli government and called on politicians to “intervene to rescue him.”
A highly divided US Congress seeks to examine allegations of corruption involving Hunter Biden and his dealings with Chinese and Ukrainian nationals, including an appointment to the board of Burisma, an energy company registered in Cyprus.
