|
Rakesh Saxena, an international financier who waged Canada'slongest extradition battle after being arrested in B.C. in 1996,has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for embezzlement that helpedbankrupt a Thai bank in the mid-1990s. Saxena, 59, was found guilty on five counts of securities fraudbetween 1992 and 1995, having siphoned off tens of millions ofdollars from the now-defunct Bangkok Bank of Commerce, where he wasemployed as an adviser. The scandal that engulfed Bangkok Bank of Commerce caused a run onbank deposits and led to the bank's collapse, contributing to thedevaluation of the baht and the regional crisis. Saxena wasarrested in 1996 but was extradited from Canada only in 2009. In the 13 years between his arrest at the Ch teau Whistler andhis deportation in 2009, the one-time Asian financial darlingclaimed he spent close to $20 million trying to avoid being sentback to Thailand. The cost to the Canadian taxpayer to thwartSaxena's efforts was well over $10 million. The Bangkok South Criminal Court heard how Saxena had set up 60businesses in Thailand and used them to secure loans from the bankto cover debts and running costs, but instead channelled the moneyinto personal accounts, mostly in Switzerland. "The defendant clearly demonstrated his intention to takefunds from the damaged party to invest for his own personal use,depositing the funds into several overseas accounts," thejudge said in reading the verdict. Estimates of the money he stole from the bank vary from $60 millionto $82 million. The court didn't give a total. Saxena, wearing orange prison fatigues and in a wheelchair,appeared frail and confused as the sentence was passed. He also wasordered to pay 1.13 billion baht ($35.8 million) in damages and aone-million baht fine. He was arrested while skiing in Canada but fought off extraditionattempts until three years ago, arguing that Thai investigators hadno real evidence against him and that he would be tortured andkilled if he was forced to return. He said he would not give up the fight. "We have to appeal, ofcourse," he told reporters. "This sentence is absolutelywrong." Saxena, who at one point tried to flee Canada on a fake passport,has been embroiled in other controversies, including allegationsthat he planned to finance a coup in Sierra Leone, where he wasinvolved in diamond mining. According to media reports in Thai-land, more than two dozen fraudcases related to the Bangkok Bank of Commerce saga are stillpending. With files from The Province. I am an expert from beginnerrcairplanes.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Trainer RC Airplanes , 2ch RC Airplane, 4ch RC Airplanes,and more.
Related Articles -
Trainer RC Airplanes, 2ch RC Airplane,
|
