We're no refuge, Cuban foreign minister says

ASSOCIATED PRESS - HAVANA

Cuba's foreign minister yesterday denied knowing anything about multimillionaire Herbert Axelrod, who fled here to avoid tax fraud charges.

"Cuba has never been a refuge for those fleeing justice," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told international journalists.

Axelrod reportedly traveled to Cuba to avoid arraignment this week on charges he hid income from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

A federal judge in Trenton issued a warrant for Axelrod's arrest when he failed to appear for his arraignment on Wednesday.

The United States has no extradition treaty with Cuba.

His former lawyer in a civil case speculated Axelrod, 76, has moved to Cuba to live out his life. He had traveled there frequently and had many friends there, attorney Alan Lebensfeld told The Star-Ledger Wednesday.

Axelrod has sold millions of dollars worth of musical instruments at a discount to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

He was charged with using Swiss bank accounts to hide more than $700,000 in income from the IRS related to the publishing company he owned that specialized in books on animals and pets.