Man escapes jail where Brazil's most wanted man is held

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) -- An Argentine banker accused of embezzling millions has escaped from a jail while awaiting extradition, raising security concerns about a fellow inmate -- a judge involved in a corruption scandal who is Brazil's most wanted man, local media reported Sunday.

The banker, Francisco Javier Trusso, escaped from the jail in Sao Paulo by complaining of health problems, the daily Jornal do Brasil reported.

A police official broke regulations and took him to a nearby hospital for a check-up, the newspaper said. Trusso walked away from the hospital while the official was distracted making a telephone call.

Trusso was one of the owners of Banco Credito Provincial, an Argentine bank that went under in 1999 in a scandal involving the alleged theft of $10 million.

He left Argentina during the scandal and was arrested in Brazil in August 1999 for alleged embezzlement. He was awaiting extradition to Argentina when he escaped.

The escape came less than two weeks after Nicolau Dos Santos Neto, Brazil's most wanted man, surrendered to police and was placed in the same small jail.

Santos Neto was a judge at the center of a $100 million embezzlement scandal that threatened to touch Brazil's government earlier this year.

The judge had been on the run for more than six months and authorities had launched one of the biggest manhunts in Brazil's history to track him down, including placing wanted posters with his picture across the country.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See related sites about Americas

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.