An important step has been taken toward the extradition of Huzefa Hafiz Ismail, a man whom the French judiciary considers to be behind the pseudonym "Dark Bank," a shadow banker who has served criminal groups around the world. In an April 8 decision, which Le Monde was able to access, a federal judge from the United States Discrit Court in Fort Worth, Texas, concluded that "the evidence assembled by the French authorities (...) establishes reasonable grounds for the Court to believe that criminal offenseshave occurred as alleged in the extradition package and that Ismail committed them."

Ismail, a 41-year-old American citizen residing in Dubai, was arrested at Dallas International Airport in August 2024, under an arrest warrant issued by French investigating judges from the National Jurisdiction Against Organized Crime (JUNALCO). The investigation, which was opened in 2021, concerns the laundering of money obtained from drug trafficking as an organized group, as well as criminal conspiracy, committed in eight European countries, including France, as well as Dubai, Turkey, and the US.

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