Peter Weinzierl, the former CEO of Austrian lender Meinl Bank AG, was extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States to face charges related to a $170 million money laundering scheme tied to Odebrecht SA. Weinzierl, 59, pled not guilty to the charges of money laundering, which allege his involvement in helping the Brazilian construction giant conceal illicit funds used to bribe global officials and defraud the Brazilian government.
Weinzierl, who was arrested in the U.K. in 2021, had contested his extradition for several years, but in February 2025, the U.K. High Court ruled that he could not challenge the decision further, leading to his transfer to U.S. custody. He appeared in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday, where U.S. Marshals escorted him into the courtroom. Judge Marcia Henry ordered Weinzierl to be held without bail, citing the nature of the charges and his lack of ties to the U.S.
Weinzierl and his former colleague, Alexander Waldstein, are accused of conspiring with Odebrecht to launder hundreds of millions of dollars through offshore accounts, using fraudulent transactions and shell companies. The scheme, which involved over $170 million in illegal transfers, was designed to evade more than $100 million in Brazilian taxes. The funds were funneled through New York bank accounts and eventually deposited into offshore accounts.
The U.S. government alleges that Weinzierl and Waldstein pocketed millions of dollars in fees from the illicit transactions. Waldstein has yet to appear in U.S. court, and is believed to be outside U.S. jurisdiction.
Prosecutors argued that Weinzierl posed a flight risk due to his substantial resources and his history of relocating internationally, including time spent in Russia. Weinzierl’s defense attorney, Michael Nadler, countered that his client had been released on bond for several years in the U.K. without fleeing, and that there was no reason to believe he would abscond from the U.S.
Weinzierl’s case is tied to the broader Odebrecht scandal, in which the company was implicated in the largest foreign bribery case in history, paying over $2.6 billion in settlements with U.S., Brazilian, and Swiss authorities.
Weinzierl is set to return to court on Monday, where U.S. District Judge Rachel Kovner will oversee further proceedings. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
For more information on the case, please refer to U.S. v. Weinzierl et al., case number 1:20-cr-00383, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
