LIMA, Peru — The prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005, Joran van der Sloot, has been moved to a maximum security prison in Peru before his extradition to the United States, The Associated Press reported.
Van der Sloot is facing fraud charges in an alleged plot to extort Holloway’s family following her disappearance, according to CNN.
Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway, reportedly sent $15,000 to a bank account that belonged to van der Sloot in the Netherlands, according to a U.S. federal indictment from 2010 obtained by CNN. She then reportedly went through her lawyer with another $10,000 which was given to him in person. Van der Sloot then said he would the family attorney, John Kelly, where her remains were once he received the $25,000 but the information ended up being false.
Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of a Peru woman, the AP reported. Peruvian officials authorized his extradition in May.
Van der Sloot’s lawyer, Máximo Altez, said that he was taken from Challapalca prison to the Piedras Gords prison, according to the AP.
“In the coming days, the INPE (National Penitentiary Institute) will hand over the condemned man to Interpol Peru with the goal of handing him over to U.S. authorities from the FBI,” the National Penitentiary Institute said in a statement Saturday that was obtained by the AP.
It is unclear how long the transfer process from Peru to the United States will take, officials told CNN en Español.
Altez told the AP that he expects the extradition to take place on Tuesday but Peruvian officials did not confirm that, the AP reported.
Holloway was last seen alive with van der Sloot as well as two other men about 18 years ago in Aruba leaving a nightclub, CNN reported. Holloway was declared dead in 2012 and her remains have not yet been found. So far, no one has been charged with her death.
