Extradition from Canada to Thailand—Rakesh Saxena

Thai authorities are attempting to have Indian-born Rakesh Saxena extradited from Canada to Thailand “to stand trial for his alleged role in the [Bangkok Bank of Commerce] failure.”^[1] A Bangkok criminal court recently returned verdicts against former bank president Krirkkiat Jalichandra and three other bank officials for colluding with Mr. Saxena in cheating the bank, which led to its collapse just before Thailand’s mid-1997 financial crisis.^[2] Thailand will now submit that verdict to a Canadian court in Vancouver.^[3]

Mr. Saxena fled Thailand in 1996, and has been living under self-financed house arrest in Vancouver.^[4] In 2000, a lower court in Canada ruled that Mr. Saxena should be extradited to Thailand, but the process has been delayed; Canada did not endorse the extradition until November 2003, and Mr. Saxena has appealed the ruling.^[5]

Extradition from Canada to Thailand is conducted under the extradition treaty between Great Britain and Siam.^[6] Under the terms of the treaty, extradition is allowed for embezzlement^[7] and fraud,^[8] as well as participating in schemes to do either.^[9] If Mr. Saxena had already been put to trial in Thailand for the crime for which extradition has been sought, Canada would not be able to extradite him.^[10] However, the information that has been forwarded from Thailand to Canada concerning Mr. Jalichandra and the others does not contain verdicts against Mr. Saxena, so that particular aspect should not be a bar to extradition. Instead, the information is meant to supplement the evidence provided by Thailand already, as the request for extradition “must be accompanied by a warrant of arrest issued by the competent authority of the State requiring the extradition, and by such evidence as, according to the laws of the place where the accused is found, would justify his arrest if the crime had been committed there.”^[11]

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[1] Thailand to Appeal to Canadian Court for Indian’s Extradition, Rediff.com, Dec. 30, 2005.
[2] Id. See also, Court Sentences Ex-Bank Head to a 20-year Jail Term, Bangkok Post, Dec. 28, 2005; Court Sentences Ex-Bank Head to 20-Years Jail, US$472 million Fine, Thai News Agency, Dec. 28, 2005.
[3] Rediff.com, supra note 1.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Extradition Treaty, Mar. 4, 1911, U.K.-Siam, B.T.S. 1911/23 (U.K.).
[7] Id. art. II, para. 7.
[8] Id. art. II, para. 9.
[9] Id. art. II.
[10] Id. art. IV.
[11] Id. art. VII.