Central bank dusts off more than 20 Saxena cases

       The Bank of Thailand is preparing to dust off more than 20 lawsuits against fugitive financier Rakesh Saxena in light of his potential return to Thailand.
       Saxena: May be extradited tomorrow
       Mr Saxena, a former adviser to the collapsed Bangkok Bank of Commerce (BBC), is expected to arrive back in Bangkok tomorrow if the Supreme Court of Canada rejects his latest appeal against extradition.
       The court is scheduled to hand down its verdict today.
       BoT assistant governor Arkabusk Krairiksh said the statutes of limitations for most of the cases the BoT planned to file against Mr Saxena had not expired.
       "All of the cases pending for Mr Saxena will be resumed if he is brought back," Mr Arkabusk said.
       Chanchai Boonritchaisri, the central bank's senior director of the Legal and Litigation Department, said Mr Saxena had been involved directly and indirectly in several legal cases related to BBC.
       He said there were more than 20 cases pending for Mr Saxena involving BBC, which collapsed in 1995 under the weight of its non-performing loans.
       Seksan Bangsombun, chief prosecutor for economic and resource cases, said he had assigned a team of prosecutors to work on cases in which Mr Saxena was named as a suspect. This was so prosecutors could indict Mr Saxena in these cases once he arrived back in Thailand.
       Sirisak Tiyapan, chief prosecutor for foreign affairs, will be in charge of returning Mr Saxena to Thailand if he fails in his appeal against extradition.
       Police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said Mr Saxena would be held at the Crime Suppression Division prison pending interrogation if he was extradited from Canada.
       Central Investigation Bureau chief Tha-ngai Prasajaksatru said a new investigating team headed by Pol Maj Gen Panya Mamen, the deputy CIB chief, had been appointed to work on criminal cases against Mr Saxena. Pol Lt Gen Tha-ngai said police investigators had forwarded cases of alleged embezzlement involving Mr Saxena to the public prosecutor for indictment in 1996, but Mr Saxena fled the country before police could issue an arrest warrant for him.
       Mr Saxena is accused by the public prosecutor of colluding with BBC executives to defraud the bank of more than 20 billion baht.
       Mr Saxena has sought asylum in Canada for more than a decade.