Spain Sends U.S. Extradition Request for Chambers to Court

Spain’s Cabinet has advanced a U.S. request to extradite James “Fergie” Chambers to the country’s courts, opening a judicial review but not deciding whether he will be sent to the United States. The government says the move is procedural and that the Cabinet will make a final decision after the court process concludes. Chambers, an American multimillionaire and media heir, was arrested in Ibiza on July 10 at the request of U.S. authorities and is being held in pretrial detention in Madrid, according to reports. Spain’s National Court will examine the extradition request. A hearing is expected in the coming weeks, but no date had been set in the reports. The court’s review will precede the Cabinet’s final decision. The U.S. indictment is sealed, and U.S. authorities have not publicly detailed the charges. Chambers’s lawyer says the allegations include money laundering and riot-related offenses linked to protests in 2023. His legal team says U.S. prosecutors allege he laundered money through a transfer of more than $7.5 million to Tunisia.