A BILLIONAIRE with links to the Labour Party and to Saddam Hussein has been arrested in London on a French extradition warrant.

Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain’s richest men, is wanted in connection with the biggest fraud trial in French history.

He was arrested on Monday and bailed to appear at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court next Tuesday on three counts of conspiracy to defraud.

The charges relate to the sale of a Spanish oil refinery in 1990.

The Iraqi-born billionaire, who is a British citizen, has avoided extradition for the past two years, despite repeated requests from France for Britain to hand him over.

Opposition MPs last month demanded a full explanation for the Government’s refusal to deport Mr Auchi, who is believed to have been advising British ministers on Iraq.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said last night: “Nadhmi Shakir Auchi, a British man, was arrested on March 31 at Charing Cross Police Station, which he attended by appointment. He was charged and bailed to appear at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court on April 8 on three charges of conspiracy to defraud involving the takeover of Ertoil by General Mediterranean Holding and its subsequent sale to Elf.”

Mr Auchi, who lives in London, has an estimated £1.2 billion hotel and shipping empire. His links with Saddam Hussein’s regime are shrouded in mystery. He came to Britain in the early 1980s after apparently falling out of favour with Saddam. He claims that two of his brothers were killed by the Iraqi dictator. However, he was a Baath party activist in the early years of the Baathist revolution.

His business empire is at the centre of another multimillion-pound lawsuit. The NHS is claiming in a £27 million case that a pharmaceuticals company he controlled was among those that colluded to overcharge the NHS for the drug warfarin.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• The bright side of this winter rain
• Story behind the picture: Snow Leopard, 2008
• Times Charity Appeal: The Place2Be