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Editorial: Ungrateful fugitive sends message
Rakesh Saxena |
Will you turn a blind eye when the “guest” says he never wanted to be in your house in the first place and that he lied to get in?
Well we all know what we would do.
The problem is “we” don’t seem to have the guts or the willingness to do it.
This is the story of fugitive Thai banker Rakesh Saxena who was arrested in Whistler in 1996 by police acting on an extradition request from Thailand.
The banker is blamed for the collapse of the Bangkok Bank of Commerce and is accused of embezzling $88-million which led to an Asian economic crisis.
Over the past decade Saxena, with his pile of cash has been costing the taxpayer millions of dollars by using our court system to stay out of the reach of Thai authorities.
Since he was arrested by the RCMP, Saxena has thrown up an array of legal objections to his extradition, including claims that he would be murdered by Thai authorities if he was returned to that country.
“I would like to stay in Canada,” he told a newspaper then.
His high-priced lawyers have even invoked the name of Buddha in the B.C. courts to stop
Saxena from being returned saying the affidavits of Thai witnesses are not valid because the witnesses were not sworn before Buddha as the law in Thailand requires.
While staying in a court allowed self-imposed exile in a luxurious condo in False Creek, Saxena continued his dubious activities.
Saxena arranged for overseas boiler room operators, some with prior criminal records, to sell shares of essentially worthless companies to investors, most located in the United Kingdom.
His other activities include a counter-coup attempt in Sierra Leone which he plotted while under arrest in Vancouver and being a key player in a questionable stock scheme in Botswana.
Now while awaiting a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to stop his extradition, the fugitive banker says in a published interview that Canada is full of "unintelligent idiots," he doesn't want to stay here and he isn't really worried about his future
"In hindsight, I picked the wrong country," he said.
"I didn't want to live in Canada, it's the last place, and it’s full of unintelligent idiots."
When it was pointed out that Canadian taxpayers have spent millions in court and legal fees for his fight to avoid extradition Saxena said "that's because of the stupidity of your government."
Saxena said he's not worried about being tortured, even though that's what his lawyer told the B.C. Court of Appeal.
"All that is rubbish! You know my kids have been living there [in Thailand] for 10 years," he laughed.
"My family still lives there. People, I think, have just got the wrong impression."
Okay then, let’s charge this creep with perjury for lying to the courts about his torture fears, confiscate his assets in Canada for the legal fees and boot him out.
Saxena’s words also serve as a reminder to the world that Canada is a patsy when it comes to dealing with international fugitives who seek refuge within its borders.
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