“Omni” wins a round in his extradition case

Diogo Santos Coelho, also known as “Omnipotent” of RaidForums, was arrested in January 2022 in the U.K. and has spent more than three years awaiting a decision on extradition from the U.S. and Portugal. Today, the High Court of Justice in London quashed a decision by the Secretary of State for the Home Department that favoured extradition to the United States, and it ruled that Coelho must be allowed to make representations before a new decision is reached on whether he should be extradited to the U.S. or Portugal.

The court found the initial process procedurally unfair, noting that Coelho had not been permitted to present his evidence and that the SSHD had relied on inaccurate information. The judgment also identified a mistake of fact, including that a Portuguese warrant involved additional offences of money laundering and tax fraud, and that victims were globally spread rather than located solely in the U.S.

This decision means the Secretary of State must reconsider the competing extradition requests, and Coelho’s team now has a formal opportunity to advance representations—according to The High Court of Justice in London.