Extradited Banking Fugitive Arrives In Thailand

Banking Scandal Fugitive Rakesh Saxena Arrives In Thailand After Extradition From Canada

(AP)  BANGKOK (AP) - Thai television reports say a financial expert wanted by authorities for more than a decade for alleged involvement in a massive bank failure has arrived in Thailand after his extradition from Canada.

Rakesh Saxena, 57, staged one of the longest extradition battles in Canadian history to avoid being sent back to Thailand to face charges he embezzled $88 million from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, which collapsed in 1995.

Thai PBS and other local television stations reported that the plane carrying Saxena arrived at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport about an hour after its scheduled 9:20 p.m. (1420 GMT) time.

Saxena was a financial adviser to the bank, which made millions of dollars of unsecured loans to cronies of the management.