Italian investigation: How a Russian pursued by the US escaped house arrest.

ROME (AP) - Italy is investigating how a Russian businessman escaped from house arrest nearMilan to avoid extradition to the United States on charges of violating sanctions.

Minister of Justice Carlo Nordinio

Ordered to conduct a review of the Milan court officials' decision to transfer Artem Uss from prison to house arrest in a nearby city while the Italian justice system addressed the issue of extradition to the United States, Italian news reported on Friday.

Ussa, 40, was arrested under an American warrant in October 2022 at Milan Malpensa Airport, where he was about to board a flight to Turkey en route to Russia. In November, he was moved from prison to house arrest. He allegedly removed his electronic tracking bracelet and escaped from Italy on March 22, the day after a Milan court deemed the extradition request to the U.S. lawful. He appeared in Russia in early April. Investigators believe he was taken shortly before the tracking device was disabled, crossed the border into neighboring Slovenia using fake documents, and then traveled to Serbia, where he reportedly boarded a flight to Moscow, according to an Italian newspaper.Corriere della Sera.

Ussa's father, the regional governor in Russia, thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video recording for bringing his son back home, Italian media reported.

On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Accompanied by representatives of the security service and her office, she addressed a closed meeting of the permanent parliamentary intelligence committee, whose members asked questions about the dynamics of the escape.

The US is demanding the extradition of Ussa on charges of smuggling Western technology in violation of Western sanctions and money laundering. The newspaperCorriere della SeraIt is claimed that Uss is suspected of being involved in smuggling operations to deliver millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela to Russia and China.

NewspaperLa StampaFrom Turin, citing unnamed judicial officials in Milan, it was reported that investigators believe that at least half a dozen individuals, all from Eastern Europe, may have been involved in the escape.

Referring to documents from the Milan court, the Italian news agency ANSA reported on Friday that the Italian Ministry of Justice, in early December, sought to alleviate the concerns of American authorities in a letter, stating that Uss was equipped with an electronic tracking device.

According to the informationCorriere della SeraIn late November, U.S. authorities warned the Italian Ministry of Justice about the risk of Ussa's escape.