Dwight Deportation Imminent, Says Source

Jailed expatriate psychologist Beverly Dwight is scheduled to be deported to the United States on Tuesday, a Moscow businesswoman close to Dwight said Monday night.


Dwight, 45, who has been in a Russian jail since her Jan. 19 arrest, is wanted in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is accused of defrauding seven banks of over $1 million.


The businesswoman, Colleen Moll, said she heard Monday afternoon from a consular officer working on Dwight's case that Dwight would be moved from her jail cell at Petrovka 38, the Moscow militia headquarters, and flown out of Russia in the company of a security officer from the U.S. Embassy.


An embassy official, who asked not to be named, said Monday evening, "We have no firm indication on the timing of any next moves for her."


Other people familiar with the situation also said Dwight would likely be moved Tuesday and would first be given a chance to collect some of her belongings from her Kutuzovsky Prospekt apartment.


Dwight's fugitive husband, David Carter, who is named in the same 42-count bank fraud indictment, said in a Monday afternoon telephone interview with The Moscow Times that he was sizing up the situation from a location outside Russia -- but "not too far away" -- and expects to return soon.


"I don't want to give the impression I'm in hiding," said Carter, 49, who runs a St. Petersburg real estate business. "But I can't jump into the frying pan without knowing what is going on."


Carter, whose intricate knowledge of his own and Dwight's background confirmed his identity, said he left the country on or before Jan. 13, when his Russian visa expired and had no knowledge of the U.S. indictment until Friday. Ultimately, he said he would like to surrender to U.S. authorities directly and not spend time in a Russian jail.


Carter again denied the charges in the indictment and said it was part of a pattern of harassment by U.S. law-enforcement officials. His initial departure from the U.S. in 1989 or 1990 had nothing to do with the grand jury investigation which led to the indictment, he said.


"We took a two-month vacation to Europe and decided it was a wonderful place. It had nothing to do with the litigation," said Carter, who added that neither he nor Dwight had since returned to the United States.


Initially the couple lived in southern France and then moved to St. Petersburg. Dwight eventually moved to Moscow where she gained prominence as a psychologist. Carter remained in St. Petersburg where he is well known in the police and business communities.


"Carter is a headache. We are fed up with him," said Dadash Dzhafarov, head of the investigation unit of the St. Petersburg militia.


Dzhafarov said the police filed charges on Nov. 15 against Carter for taking the law into his own hands by taking property from an employee of the RJR Nabisco firm in exchange for rent Carter claimed was due on one of his apartments.


If convicted, Carter faces a maximum sentence of six months in a labor camp.


Carter did not respond to several summons from the militia for interrogation and is now subject to arrest anywhere in Russia, Dzhafarov said.


In his interview, Carter denied any wrongdoing involving RJR Nabisco.


In a separate 1993 incident, Carter made Russian television news when he was involved in a high-speed chase in St. Petersburg which ended after militia officers fired 17 bullets into the van Carter was driving and wounded a female companion in the buttocks.