Canada won't block man's extradition

TORONTO, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- A Canadian appellate court Sunday rejected an appeal by a German-Canadian businessman to quash his extradition on tax evasion charges, his attorney said.

Attorney Eddie Greenspan said his client, Karlheinz Schreiber, was on his way to a Toronto jail after the Ontario Court of Appeal refused to block Schreiber's extradition to Germany in a prosecution he contends has become a political football in his home country, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Greenspan argued Schreiber should be allowed to stay in Canada, where he has been a citizen since 1982, at least until he could mount a legal challenge to Ottawa's extradition treaty with Germany. But government lawyers said that request was "frivolous," the CBC reported.

Schreiber, 75, is wanted in Germany on charges of tax evasion, bribery and fraud. He reportedly said in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that his case is being used by Germany's center-left Social Democrats as an issue to beat their conservative opponents in next month's elections.