One of the US businessmen who gave evidence on behalf of Mr Finbarr Ross (52) in Muskogee, Oklahoma, last Monday is an associate of Mr Ross from 1984 when International Investments Ltd (IIL) collapsed with debts of £7 million.

Mr Brian Ganann, from Houston, Texas, told the Muskogee court that Mr Ross lived openly during his time in Houston and had not been hiding from the authorities. Another businessman and acquaintance of Mr Ross, Mr John Moriarty, from New Jersey, also gave evidence that Mr Ross has been living openly in the US since he moved there just before the IIL collapse.

Their evidence may be important as lawyers for Mr Ross have argued that as the most recent of the charges against their client relates to 1984, he should not be returned to Northern Ireland. In the US a 5-year statute of limitations applies to fraud charges. They argued that Mr Ross has not been hiding from the Northern Ireland authorities and produced Mr Ganann and Mr Moriarty to support their argument. If the judge decides that Mr Ross was a fugitive from the authorities since his move to the US, then he may find that the length of time since the alleged offences is not relevant and Mr Ross should be extradited. The judge will give his decision on Monday. If he rules Mr Ross should be extradited, then that decision will be appealed.

Mr Ganann is involved in the oil and gas industry and is based in Houston, Texas. In 1984, some months after Mr Ross had moved to Houston, the two men shared an apartment there. Mr Ganann was involved in running a company called Shawnee, which invested in oil assets. Mr Ross negotiated an arrangement whereby he would receive a commission for new clients he brought to Shawnee. It is not known if he ever did introduce such a client.

According to an interview a US lawyer conducted with Mr Ross around that time, Mr Ross owned approximately 25 per cent of Shawnee. The lawyer, Mr Samuel Stubbs, of Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court of Gibraltar in 1987, said Mr Ross had invested IIL funds in Shawnee projects. At the time Mr Stubbs was engaged in tracking down IIL assets in the US. The Gibraltar-registered company had £7 million in debts when it collapsed.

Mr Moriarty, the second witness called last Monday, is a consultant to small businesses and has known Mr Ross for more than 15 years. Mr Moriarty told the court that although the two men met through business, they have not been involved in any business ventures together. Mr Moriarty has taken a great interest in Mr Ross's plight and has twice flown to Muskogee to visit him.

In recent years Mr Ross, who is now a US citizen, has become involved with the Light of Christ Community Church, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Late last year he was ordained a minister. Friends of Mr Ross from the evangelical protestant church have been instrumental in raising finance to pay his legal fees and have been supportive of him in other ways.

Prior to his arrest in March on foot of an RUC warrant, Mr Ross was launching himself on a new career as a minister with the church. His colleagues in the church were amazed when they learned of the IIL scandal and the details of Mr Ross's past. "We had known him as a sensitive and a gentle person and we were shocked when we heard the stories from his past," said the Rev Parrish-Harra, a senior member of the religious community at Sparrow Hawk village, outside Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where Mr Ross lived and where he was arrested.

"There is a great deal of mixed emotion among all of us here now. There is a feeling that he [Mr Ross] needs to make amends in some way, she said. "This damages his plans for a new future. It has disappointed so many people." Rev Parrish-Harra said that she is nearing retirement herself and could imagine how awful it would be to lose her life's savings. I have a sense of sorrow for the people who lost their investments," she said. She said that if Mr Ross is not extradited, then one way forward would be to grant him immunity from prosecution if he would return to Northern Ireland and give evidence about the IIL collapse. That might contribute in some way towards easing the pain of the investors who lost their savings," she said.