NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors filed new charges against accused international arms dealer Viktor Bout and his U.S. associate on Wednesday, including money-laundering conspiracy and wire fraud.
The Russian-born Bout, who is known as the "Merchant of Death" and was the subject of a book by that name, has been held in Thailand since his arrest in a joint Thai-U.S. sting operation in 2008.
A Thai court rejected an extradition request by the United States, which has appealed the ruling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office said.
U.S. prosecutors have accused Bout of trafficking arms since the 1990s, using a fleet of cargo planes to send weapons to Africa, South America and the Middle East.
They allege Bout sold arms or brokered deals that have helped fuel wars in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
Bout has denied involvement in the illegal arms trade and has maintained he was only involved in cargo transportation.
"Viktor Bout allegedly made a career of arming bloody conflicts and supporting rogue regimes across multiple continents, even using the U.S. banking system to secretly finance a private fleet of aircraft," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
"This office is committed to working with our partners in the United States, at the United Nations, and around the world to bring transnational criminals like Viktor Bout to justice," Bharara said.
Bout was originally charged with conspiring to kill Americans by selling millions of dollars worth of weapons.
The character played by Nicholas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War" is loosely based on the Russian's alleged exploits. A British minister labeled him "a merchant of death."
The whereabouts of Bout's co-defendant, the U.S. citizen Richard Chichakli, are unknown.
(Reporting by Edith Honan, Editing by Daniel Trotta and Philip Barbara)
