A millionaire businessman accused of massive fraud this morning won a legal battle against extradition to his home country Chile. 

The months-long ordeal of Alberto Chang Rajii, the businessman at the centre of the legal saga, came to a close this morning after a court of committal presided by magistrate Aaron Bugeja morning turned down Chilean authorities' extradition request.

The court found that the prosecution failed to produce sufficient evidence to give the extradition the green light, and in a lengthy judgment declared evidence produced by the prosecution as inadmissible.

READ: I stand no chance of a fair trial in Chile, entrepreneur tells court

Chilean authorities claim Mr Chang Rajii ran a Ponzi scheme worth $80 million that left investors high and dry.

The entrepreneur, who was lured to Malta after being attracted by its Individual Investor Programme, had his plans derailed after Chilean investigators filed an extradition request urging local authorities to send him back to Chile to face investigation. 

His IIP application was disengaged and his request for a Maltese passport was halted. 

But today, Mr Chang Rajii walked out of court a free man.

Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Stephen Tonna Lowell were counsel to Mr Chang Rajii.

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