Thai financier Saxena loses Canada bail bid

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Mar 6 (Reuters) A judge denied bail to fugitive Thai banker Rakesh Saxena today, saying the risk of flight was growing as his decade-long battle to remain Canada appears finally to be drawing to a close.

The ruling came three days after an appeals court rejected Saxena's latest challenge to an extradition request by Thai authorities, who have accused him of an 88 million Canadian dollars (77 million dollars) fraud that battered that country's economy in the 1990s.

Saxena, who denies the fraud allegation, surrendered to Canadian prison officials on Friday after the appeals court ruling, which also forced him to end an unusual deal that allowed him to pay for his own house arrest guards during the extradition battle.

The financier had argued unsuccessfully he would be subject to torture and death if returned to Thailand. He contends the fraud accusations are politically motivated to protect friends of the Thai royal family.

Saxena's attorney, Russ Chamberlain, said he will challenge both the appeals court's ruling and the bail decision, but said the legal fight that has already been to the Supreme Court of Canada once before could be over in 18 months.

Saxena, an Indian national who also once had business links to Sierra Leone, was arrested in 1996 at the resort of Whistler, British Columbia, near Vancouver, on charges he helped embezzle 88 million Canadian dollars as an adviser to Bangkok Bank of Commerce.

The bank was one of Thailand's major financial institutions and news of the scandal sparked a run on deposits that helped forced a currency devaluation and brought the Thai economy to the brink of collapse.

REUTERS VJ RAI0334