Karlheinz Schreiber, ex-PM's nemesis, is out of jail again

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Extradition on hold until he testifies on dealings with Mulroney

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 / 3:12 PM ET German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber has been freed on bail — again — as he pursues his twin hobbies of making life miserable for former prime minister Brian Mulroney and putting off extradition to Germany.

Schreiber, who has been in and out of Canadian jails since 1999, was released Wednesday from Toronto's Metro West Detention Centre.

Karlheinz Schreiber faces extradition to Germany, but not until he testifies in a federal inquiry.
(CBC)

The CBC's Harvey Cashore, who interviewed him outside the jail, said he was in a feisty mood and eager to testify about what has become known as the Mulroney-Schreiber affair.

His legal battle to remain in Canada ended in March when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear his appeal of an extradition order. He faces charges of fraud, tax evasion and bribery in Germany. Even so, the federal government is letting him stay until he testifies in a planned federal inquiry into his dealings with Mulroney.

At the centre of the controversy are three envelopes of cash he passed to Mulroney in hotel-room meetings after Mulroney left office. Schreiber says they contained a total of $300,000; Mulroney says the amount was $225,000.

Mulroney has told the Commons ethics committee that he took the money between 1993 and 1994 to lobby internationally on behalf of Schreiber's client, Thyssen, a German company, to set up an armoured-vehicle factory in Cape Breton. He said the business arrangement was struck after he left office in June 1993.

Schreiber has said the arrangement was reached in Mulroney's last days as prime minister, something that could have put him in violation of federal ethics rules.

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