VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Fugitive Thai banker Rakesh Saxena has been handed over to Thai authorities and is en route to Thailand after the Supreme Court of Canada turned down his request to hear his case, ending one of the longest extradition fights in Canadian history.
Saxena was fighting for 13 years to avoid being returned to Thailand to face charges he embezzled $88 million from a Bangkok bank. Thailand alleges the fraud contributed to the bank's 1995 collapse and to the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.
Saxena boarded a flight Thursday afternoon at Vancouver International Airport.
Saxena's Canadian lawyer, Amandeep Singh, says his client was traveling via Beijing and would arrive in Thailand Friday night.
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