Barings Trader Won’t Answer Charge Pending Extradition

FRANKFURT, Germany — Trader Nicholas W. Leeson told a judge Monday that he won’t respond to a charge of committing forgery against Barings bank until Germany obtains a formal extradition request from Singapore.

The 28-year-old Briton, detained March 2 on his way home, would prefer to stand trial in Britain for his alleged role in the collapse of the venerable British bank. Monday’s hearing was partly to see whether Leeson opposed extradition to Singapore.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl probably would have to decide Leeson’s fate if Britain requested extradition, prosecutor Hans-Hermann Eckert said. He could not say whether British charges were forthcoming.

Leeson would face a maximum sentence of seven years in prison on a forgery charge in Singapore. He didn’t respond to the accusations during the 20-minute hearing, said his attorney, Eberhard Kempf.

“He doesn’t say that he did anything wrong, and he doesn’t say that he did everything correctly,” Kempf said.

Leeson’s attorneys say he might be willing, in exchange for permission to go home, to discuss roles that Barings executives in London might have played in the collapse.

Kempf did not ask for bail, and Eckert said the court wouldn’t have granted it anyway because Leeson is considered a flight risk.