U.S. Files Arrest Warrant For Joran Van Der Sloot, Charged With Extortion, Wire Fraud
June 3 2010, Published 8:29 a.m. ET
Joran Van der Sloot has been accused of requesting $250,000 in exchange for the whereabouts of Natalee Holloway’s remains and the circumstances relating to her death.
The United States government charged van der Sloot -- the chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Holloway -- on wire fraud and extortion charges, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama confirmed late on Thursday.
He is accused of attempting to receive money in exchange for revealing the location of Holloway's body and the circumstances relating to her death.
Money was wired from a Birmingham institution back in May to Joran Van Der Sloot.
However, the information he gave was false.
Chilean Police arrested van der Sloot in Santiago earlier Thursday, just one day after finding Stephany Flores' body in his hotel room in Peru.
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Flores, the murdered woman in Peru, was found dead five years to the day that Holloway disappeared in Aruba while on a high school graduation trip.
BREAKING NEWS: Natalee Holloway Murder Suspect Arrested
Van der Sloot and two friends were taken into custody and questioned for Holloway's disappearance, but he was never charged.
Van der Sloot's father was a prominent judge on the island.
Joyce White Vance, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, held a news conference at 5 p.m. Thursday to discuss the criminal complaint, which was filed Thursday in federal court in Birmingham.
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