Canada Court rejects bid by fugitive Saxena to block extradition

Saxena was arrested in Candada in 1996 on an extradition warrant for his alleged part in a massive embezzlement scheme.

He's accused of stealing US$88 million from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, which along with theft by others, triggered the bank's collapsed.

Saxena, 56, has been fighting ever since to stay in Canada, arguing he could be harmed if he returns to Thailand and won't get a fair trial.

Last month, Saxena asked the Appeal Court to reconsider earlier rulings upholding a ministerial order for his extradition.

He claims the evidence used to grant the initial extradition order more than a decade ago is not the material Thai prosecutors will use against him if he eventually goes to trial.

The Canadian media reported that the three-judge Appeal Court panel unanimously rejected all his arguments, saying none of them were strong enough to overturn previous rulings, nor override the decision of several federal justice ministers over the years to uphold the extradition order.

"The case involving the applicant has received the most ample consideration by several ministers of justice including the most recent consideration by Minister (Rob) Nicholson in December 2008," Justice John Hall wrote in the ruling released Wednesday.

"This court gave a compendious judgment in March 2006. Nothing that has been advanced here before us casts any doubt on the correctness of that decision."

Saxena has been under house arrest for much of his extradition fight.

He suffered a stroke last March and uses a wheelchair. His mother has come to Canada to look after him and, along with a nurse, helped the partly paralyzed Saxena through his court appearance last month.