Financial Figure Triggering Thailand's Economic Crisis Sentenced to 335 Years in Prison After 26 Years

Rakesh Saxena Refuses to Return to Thailand, Fearing Murder; Actual Imprisonment Period Around 20 Years

The Supreme Court of Thailand upheld the original sentence of 335 years imprisonment for Rakesh Saxena (70), former advisor of Bangkok Bank (BBC), in three embezzlement cases. The photo shows a large statue at the departure hall of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] The 335-year prison sentence confirmed for the Thai financier who caused the collapse of a major Thai bank and triggered the Asian financial crisis.

According to the Bangkok Post on the 13th, the Supreme Court of Thailand upheld the original sentence of 335 years imprisonment for Rakesh Saxena (70), former advisor of Bangkok Commercial Bank (BCB), in three lawsuits including embezzlement cases.

The court also imposed a fine of 33 million baht (approximately 1.25 billion KRW) on Saxena and ordered the confiscation of 2.5 billion baht (approximately 94.6 billion KRW).

◆ Advisor Saxena at the center of large-scale embezzlement and fraudulent loan scandal

Indian-born financier Rakesh Saxena was at the center of the large-scale embezzlement and fraudulent loan scandal at Bangkok Commercial Bank in 1996.

The fraudulent loan and embezzlement case at Bangkok Commercial Bank is the largest financial fraud case in Thai history, involving many senior government officials and politicians.

Saxena, who worked as an advisor to Bangkok Commercial Bank since 1992, was charged with embezzling bank funds amounting to 75 million dollars (103 billion KRW) in collusion with government officials and senior bank executives at the time. He also admitted that in the 1995 general election, Bangkok Commercial Bank provided 1 billion baht (approximately 37.9 billion KRW) in political funds to the anti-government representative of the then opposition Chartchai Party.

As a result of this incident, Bangkok Commercial Bank, the largest financial institution in Thailand, eventually closed due to a bank run caused by the embezzlement scandal.

After the incident, Saxena fled to Canada and was arrested in 1996 at the Whistler ski resort north of Vancouver. He continuously refused to return to Thailand, claiming he would be killed if he did. After a long legal battle, the Canadian court decided in 2008 to extradite him to his home country. With the confirmation of Saxena’s sentence this year, the 26-year-long legal dispute has come to an end.

◆ 'Embezzlement scandal' that ignited the Asian financial crisis

Although Saxena’s sentence has been confirmed, many suffered from the large-scale embezzlement and fraudulent loan scandal at Bangkok Commercial Bank in 1996. Due to this incident, many banks in Thailand went bankrupt in 1997, and the Thai currency, the baht, plummeted.

As the Thai economy collapsed, neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines also experienced economic crises. The aftermath eventually sparked the Asian financial crisis that spread to the three East Asian countries.

Meanwhile, although Saxena was sentenced to 335 years, the Bangkok Post reported that the actual prison term will be a maximum of 20 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.