THE Spanish lawyer acting for a York man arrested in connection with a multimillion-pound scam said today his client was innocent - and he vowed to fight a US extradition order.

Businessman Graham Ernest Gill, from Bishopthorpe, faces 28 years in jail if he is extradited to America and convicted of fraud.

But Fernando Doria, a lawyer appointed by the Spanish Government to represent Gill, 73, told the Evening Press that he will oppose the order in Spain's highest court.

He said his client faced a tough eight-month wait in a Spanish jail before the extradition could be fought.

Seor Doria said: "Mr Gill has told me he is completely innocent, and has committed no crime. At the trial he will argue that he is a legitimate businessman, and has nothing to do with what he has been charged with. There is nothing for them to convict him of."

Gill's case will be heard in about eight months, when a panel of judges will decide whether or not he should be extradited to America. Until then, he will be held in a Madrid jail.

Gill was charged with violating Colorado's crime control laws in 2002 after allegedly siphoning $28 million off fraudulent investment guarantee schemes.

He was arrested at Madrid Barajas International Airport in Spain on January 13 after the US authorities issued an international arrest warrant. Interpol agents set up an elaborate sting operation involving the fake delivery of 370,000 euros.

Now a panel of judges in Spain's highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, will hear Gill's case against extradition.

Seor Doria said: "We will be fighting against the extradition order to the United States in the Audiencia Nacional.

"Mr Gill could spend 28 years in an American jail if he is extradited and then convicted of fraud. It would obviously be better for him to stay in Europe.

"It will be at least six months before the trial is heard here in Spain. Until then he will remain here in jail in Madrid."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "Graham Ernest Gill, who has dual British-American citizenship, was arrested in Spain on January 13 on his US passport, and the matter is now in the hands of the US authorities."

Updated: 10:09 Tuesday, January 25, 2005