BRASILIA – Brazil's most-wanted white collar criminal will be extradited from Monaco and face charges in one of the country's biggest bank frauds ever, the justice ministry said Friday.

Prince Albert of Monaco approved a court decision to extradite Salvatore Cacciola, who was sentenced by a Brazilian court to 13 years in prison on charges of embezzlement, the ministry said in a statement.

Cacciola was arrested in September of last year by Interpol agents in Monaco after being on the run since 2000. He can no longer appeal to prevent his extradition, the ministry said.

Cacciola was found guilty of embezzling part of a central bank bailout of Banco Marka, the bank he owned.

The $1 billion rescue during the 1999 currency devaluation had been necessary to prevent broader risks to the banking system, the bank had said then.

The government celebrated the announcement as a serious blow to impunity.

Wealthy and influential Brazilians accused of wrongdoing are seldom locked up and the judiciary is widely seen as plagued by impunity, corruption and delays.

(Reporting by Raymond Colitt; Editing by Eric Beech)