Joran van der Sloot Update: FBI Responds to Blackmail Sting Criticism
NEW YORK (CBS) The FBI is defending its failure to arrest murder suspect Joran van der Sloot on extortion charges in the Natalee Holloway case, saying they were getting closer to making a murder arrest in that case, and didn't want to blow the investigation.
PICTURES: Joran van der Sloot
PICTURES: Stephany Flores
The Bureau is coming under some fire for not arresting van der Sloot in Aruba, since he then allegedly then took the money from the exortion sting and went to Peru, where he has since been jailed in the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, who was murdered the last week of May.
The FBI released a statement that reads:
In April of this year, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office in Birmingham, Alabama, initiated an investigation into allegations of criminal conduct by Joran van der Sloot, related to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba five years earlier. Prior to law enforcement's involvement in the situation, Van der Sloot offered to provide information to an individual regarding the location of Natalee Holloway's remains and the circumstances of her death in exchange for $250,000.00. The FBI-led investigation was conducted in conjunction with Aruban authorities. The U.S. Attorney filed a criminal complaint charging van der Sloot with extortion and wire fraud on June 3, 2010.
Some news accounts have suggested that the FBI provided $25,000.00 in funds that were transmitted to van der Sloot. This is incorrect. The funds involved were private funds.
News accounts have also questioned why charges were not brought earlier, so that the tragic death of Stephany Flores could have been avoided. We offer our heartfelt sympathy to the Flores family. The Birmingham investigation was not related in any way to the murder in Peru. Despite having been in motion for several weeks at the time of Miss Flores' death, it was not sufficiently developed to bring charges prior to the time van der Sloot left Aruba. This is not due to any fault on the part of the FBI or the US Attorney's Office, where agents and prosecutors were working as hard as possible to bring the case to fruition when they learned of the murder. A case based on events outside of the United States is a complex matter, and work was proceeding with all deliberate speed to prepare the evidence, the charges and the necessary procedures to obtain custody of van der Sloot.
The extortion charges against van der Sloot in the Holloway case were announced Thursday, June 3, the same day he was captured in Chile in the murder of Stephany Flores in Lima, Peru.
Natalee Holloway disappeared five years ago in Aruba, during the Alabama teen's senior class high school graduation trip.
Complete Coverage of Joran van der Sloot on Crimesider
