The Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings against financier Rakesh Saxena, sentencing him to 335 years in prison in three lawsuits in connection with the Bangkok Bank of Commerce (BBC) embezzlement scandal.
Saxena was first indicted by prosecutors 26 years ago.
The ruling, read out yesterday by the Bangkok South Criminal Court, brought an end to three cases of fraud and embezzlement that were believed to have contributed to the collapse of the bank and the start of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Saxena was accused of embezzlement during his time as a BBC treasury adviser and is widely reputed to have been engaged in dozens of high-risk ventures and deals over the course of three prior decades.
Saxena played a key role in running the BBC business from 1993 to 1995, especially in the lending of funds to investors. The bank was shut down after incurring huge losses.
In yesterday's ruling, Saxena was found guilty of violating the Securities and Exchange Commission Act in three cases.
According to the prosecution's lawsuits, the offences were committed during 1994-1996 when the defendant served as an adviser to the president of the now-defunct BBC, Krirkkiat Jalichandra, who is now dead.
Saxena was accused of aiding Krirkkiat and others in authorising loans worth more than 30 million baht to Somprasong Intercommunication Co and nine other firms without proper examination of their ability to repay.
The loan authorisation was not approved by the bank's executive committee and thus was in violation of Bank of Thailand rules governing requests for loans of more than 30 million baht. Moreover, the defendant and his alleged accomplices also colluded to embezzle the money.
The prosecution asked the court to punish the defendant under the Securities and Exchange Commission Act and order him to return the funds worth 2.5 billion to the bank.
The Criminal Court found Saxena guilty of violating Sections 307, 308, 311 and 315 of the Stock Exchange of Thailand Act and Section 83 of the Criminal Code and handed down a 335-year prison term.
However, under the law, the defendant would serve a maximum of 20 years.
The Criminal Court also imposed a fine of 33 million baht and ordered him to return 2.5 billion baht to the bank.
Saxena appealed the ruling, but the Appeal Court stood by the lower court's decision. He challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said it examined the evidence submitted by the prosecution and found without a doubt that the defendant committed the offences as charged.
The Supreme Court stood by the lower court's decision.
Saxena was charged with embezzlement worth US$75 million in 1996 following the collapse of BBC in 1995. A warrant was issued for his arrest in June 1996.
He fled to Canada after the scandal emerged but was arrested there in July 1996.
After a lengthy extradition battle, a Canadian court rejected his objection to the extradition in November 2008 and he was eventually extradited to stand trial in Thailand.
In June 2012, the Bangkok South Criminal Court sentenced him to ten years in prison, and ordered him to pay a fine of 1 million baht and return 1.13 billion baht to the bank in connection with illicit loans granted to City Trading Corp totalling 1.6 billion baht.
As for Krirkkiat, he was declared bankrupt in 2009 and indicted for fraud and embezzlement worth 50 billion baht.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died of cancer in October 2012.
