Fugitive banker extradited to Thailand

A fugitive banker's long fight against extradition ended Thursday as he was put on a plane back to Thailand, where he faces charges of fraud that Thai officials say contributed to the 1990s Asian financial crisis.

Banker Rakesh Saxena had been fighting for 13 years to avoid being returned to Thailand to face charges he embezzled $88 million from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, which collapsed in 1995. It was one of the longest extradition fights in Canada's history.

Canadian Department of Justice spokeswoman Lyse Cantin said Saxena has been handed over to Thai authorities and is on his way there. His lawyer said he was traveling from Vancouver to Beijing and then to Thailand, arriving in Bangkok Friday night.

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday turned down his request to hear his case, setting in motion his extradition.

Saxena, who suffered a stroke last March and uses a wheelchair, was living under house arrest during much of his extradition battle, but has been in jail most recently.

His Canadian lawyer, Amandeep Singh, said his client accepted the court's decision.

"He's ready to defend himself in Thailand," Singh said.

Singh said there were concerns Thailand might add further charges to those on which Saxena was sought for extradition, but that Canada has been assured by Thai authorities that he will be tried only on the securities charges.

A spokesman for the Office of Thailand's Attorney General said Saxena has over 20 cases pending against him.

Saxena was an adviser for the Bangkok Bank of Commerce when Thai authorities charged him in 1996 with setting up a series of phony loans to siphon millions from the bank.

Saxena fled Thailand and was arrested later that year in the British Columbia ski resort town of Whistler.

The collapse of the bank under US$3 billion in debts - partly accumulated by unsecured loans made to Thai politicians - created a loss of confidence in the Thai banking system that helped trigger Asia's economic crisis a year later.

Saxena has maintained he is being made the fall guy by executives of the bank related to the Thai royal family, and by financial regulators embarrassed by the scandal.

Thailand's statute of limitations on the Securities Exchange Act charges will run out in July 2010. If nothing happens by then, Saxena would be free of the charges.