Saxena Loses Appeal Against Extradition

[george]

Saxena loses appeal against extradition

Further court action in Canada likely

BANGKOK: -- A Canadian court has ruled against an appeal filed by Rakesh Saxena in his bid to fight extradition to Thailand to face fraud charges related to the collapse of the Bangkok Bank of Commerce. The British Columbia Court of Appeal turned down Mr Saxena's efforts to overturn an order by the federal justice minister that he be returned to Thailand. The three-member panel said the minister's decision to turn him over to Thai authorities ''was by no means patently unreasonable'', particularly as the minister had sought assurances from Thailand that Mr Saxena would not be mistreated.

Mr Saxena, who fled Thailand in 1996 following the collapse of the BBC, has been fighting extradition on humanitarian grounds. He has argued that he risked being killed if he was returned to Thailand.

Canadian Department of Justice spokeswoman Lyse Cantin told the Associated Press on Friday that Mr Saxena was expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Authorities are expected to rule on a bail application lodged by Mr Saxena tomorrow, she said.

Poramate Intarachunum, a deputy spokesman for the Attorney-General's Office, said Thai authorities were co-ordinating with their Canadian counterparts to confirm reports of the favourable ruling.

''Hopefully, this will be the end of this case. I personally hope that the process will be resolved quickly,'' he said.

Mr Poramate noted that under the Canadian system, further appeals could only be made if they were related to the Canadian public interest, and added that the judgment ''came faster than we expected by around six months''.

''The [appeals] court saw that new testimony was unnecessary for a judgment. We submitted a considerable amount of information related to the BBC case to the court to make our case,'' he said.

Mr Poramate said prosecutors would hold talks with the police and the Foreign Ministry on the case.

''Once [Mr Saxena] returns to Thailand, we are prepared to file charges immediately,'' he added. The 10-year extradition case is the longest in Thai history. Prosecutors say Mr Saxena, a treasury adviser to the BBC, used his position to fraudulently borrow 1.6 billion baht to finance corporate acquisitions.

A lower British Columbia court initially ruled in September 2000 that grounds existed to try Mr Saxena in Thailand and that he should be extradited. Canada's justice minister did not approve the extradition order until November 2003.

In January, authorities announced that they seized 26 billion baht in assets belonging to Mr Saxena, including properties and bank deposits in England, France and Switzerland.

Bank regulators seized the BBC in 1996 after its financial position weakened due to fraud, embezzlement and questionable loan practices.

The bank's collapse eventually foreshadowed the 1997 economic crisis, as public confidence in the health of the financial sector was weakened.

Last year, the Bangkok South Criminal Court sentenced former BBC president Krirkkiat Jalichandra to 30 years in jail and ordered fines and repayments of 2.8 billion baht for embezzlement.

Mr Krirkkiat was found guilty of violating banking and securities laws for approving billions of baht in loans to shell companies set up by Mr Saxena.

Prosecutors have filed over 20 cases against former bank employees for fraud and embezzlement.

--Bangkok Post 2006-03-05

[lukamar]

All I can say is good it's about time. Canada's laws and constitution have been used and abused to no end with this case. I hope they refuse his bail as well because at this stage he'll be off and running again.

[Kerryd]

Yeah, they made a big deal about taking away his passport years ago. Like a guy with access to hundreds of millions of dollars wouldn't be able to come up with a new one.

Should have been deported 10 years ago. All he did while in Canada was operate shady enterprises and stay one-step ahead of the law there (if he wasn't so rich, he probably would have gone to jail. Must be nice to be able to afford those high priced lawyers).

[sriracha john]

Rakesh Saxena jailed again

A Canadian judge ordered accused embezzler Rakesh Saxena back to jail to await the appeal of an extradition order to Thailand, the Canadian Press news agency reported this morning from Vancouver.

Saxena's lawyer estimated an appeal in the case to the Canadian Supreme Court would take at least another 18 months.

The BC Court of Appeal judge Justice Mary Saunders ruled that Saxena should not be allowed to return to his luxury Vancouver condo under his unique and incredibly expensive house-arrest arrangement.

"The (flight) risk is greater now with the process so far advanced," said Justice Saunders in rejecting the fugitive banker's bail application.

The CP reported that Saxena's lawyer, Russ Chamberlain, plans to appeal the bail decision and has already filed a request for the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the extradition case.

Saxena is accused of looting the Bangkok Bank of Commerce of $88 million, leading to a run on the bank's deposits and causing its collapse. In turn, that helped to fuel the 1997 currency crisis which spread through Thailand and neighbouring countries.

Saxena has been fighting attempts for almost a decade to extradite him back to Thailand to face charges.

Last week, the provincial British Columbia Court of Appeal rejected Saxena's attempt to overturn the justice minister's order that he be extradited.

Chamberlain had claimed in court that Saxena would be tortured or even killed if returned to Thailand.

The three Appeal Court justices ruled the minister's decision wasn't unreasonable, especially since the minister went the extra step of getting assurances from Thailand that Saxena would not be mistreated.

The CP said that Chamberlain believes the appeal process to the Supreme Court of Canada will take about another 18 months if the high court gives him leave to appeal.

"My main argument is that the allegations for his return under the Thai Securities and Exchange Act is that the Act doesn't apply to Saxena," he said.

"Normally you would have to be a broker or a securities dealer. He was none of those," Chamberlain noted.

If the Supreme Court of Canada application fails, Chamberlain said his client would be surrendered to Thailand.

Even that is "subject to possibility, for example, that the Thai government should fall and go into military dictatorship, which I understand right now is a possibility," he said.

If that were the case, Chamberlain said he would reapply to the justice minister.

While they await word from the Supreme Court of Canada, Chamberlain said he will be applying to the chief justice of the British Columbia Appeal Court for leave to review the decision refusing bail to his client.

Earlier in his detention, Saxena is alleged to have tried to purchase a passport under a false name to run from Canada and avoid extradition.

Saunders said that allegation, combined with the fact he has nearly exhausted his lengthy appeal process, led to her decision to detain Saxena.

-BP

[lukamar]

Last week, the provincial British Columbia Court of Appeal rejected Saxena's attempt to overturn the justice minister's order that he be extradited.

-BP

For those that do not know the Canadian federal government was changed last month in an election. The decision of the new Justice Minister may reflect the direction of the new government.

[falstaff]

STRANGE HOW NONE OF THE HENCHMEN INVOLVED AND NOW PROMINENT POLITICIANS WERE NOT ARRESTED HERE IN THAILAND.

SAXENA DID NOT ACT ALONE AS WE ALL KNOW.