Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor: "
City man to face justice in U.S.

By Susan Gamble
Local News - Saturday, July 22, 2006 @ 01:00

Brantfords Shane Ferras has lost the last of his appeals in a bid to avoid being extradited to the U.S. following a Supreme Court decision Friday morning.

Ferras, now 41, soon will be moved from the Brantford jail, where he stepped into custody on Thursday evening, to New York State to face trial on charges of fraud and money laundering as part of a high-pressure stock brokerage in the mid-1990s.

He has no further recourse, Ferrass lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said in a telephone interview from Toronto.

Theyll transfer him to the United States and, hopefully, hell get a trial as quickly as possible so the matter is resolved.

Greenspan said his client is a relatively young man with a young family and a bright future.

Working hard

While fighting his extradition order, which was signed in 2002, Ferras has been working hard as a businessman in sales, said Greenspan.

The Brantford-born Ferras was a two per cent owner in a New York brokerage house clearing $2.3 million in his few years with the company, according to court documents.


On Feb. 15, 2001, all 29 of the companys stockbrokers were arrested, including Ferras, who was back in Brantford at the time.

Despite an order in 2002 committing Ferras to be extradited, his lawyers argued that their client shouldnt been sent to the U.S. based on a case relying on hearsay evidence some of it from alleged co-conspirators who have co-operated with the American investigation.

In a surprising move, this weeks Supreme Court decision agreed to some extent. "

The trial usge must consider the las and the facts and not just be a rubber stamp