Doreen Alexander Extradited to the United States to Face Kidnapping Charges

WASHINGTON—Doreen Alexander has been extradited to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago to face charges related to her alleged role in the 2005 kidnapping of naturalized U.S. citizen Balram “Balo” Maharaj, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office.

Alexander, 47, arrived in the United States on Sunday, March 31, 2013, and was arraigned yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson in the District of Columbia. Alexander was charged in a two-count indictment filed in September 2010. If convicted, Alexander faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. She is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Alexander is the last charged co-conspirator involved in the alleged kidnapping of Maharaj, Alexander’s former boyfriend and father to one of her sons who died as a result of the kidnapping. The other 12 co-conspirators were previously extradited and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Alexander is alleged to have initiated the April 2005 kidnapping of Maharaj and provided information that allowed the kidnappers to identify, locate, and track Maharaj. Alexander allegedly alerted the kidnappers to Maharaj’s visits to Trinidad and Tobago; gave them information on his wealth, which was used to calculate the ransom; and reassured the kidnappers that they had the right man after the ransom negotiations went awry.

Valuable assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, which worked with its counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago to effect the extradition. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has also provided significant assistance in this case.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Division Extraterritorial Squad with the assistance of the FBI’s Legal Attache’s Office in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Special assistance was further provided by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Anti-Kidnapping Squad and Homicide Bureau.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Matthew Singer and Teresa Wallbaum of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.