Saxena must not be the only fall guy in BBC fiasco

The extradition of Rakesh Saxena, a former executive of the now-defunct Bangkok Bank of Commerce, to face criminal trial and civil claims for damages suffered by the bank, has caused a sensation after a long wait of 13 years. His legal struggle to remain in Canada eventually failed, and his presence in the Thai court is expected to open a Pandora's box, of sorts.

Some politicians and business people who had benefited from Saxena's swashbuckling style of financial management - which brought down the mismanaged, family-owned bank - might begin to lose some sleep. Being confined in tight security, Saxena must live long to present his case despite weak health following a stroke.

Saxena was perceived as a key figure in all the financial shenanigans at the bank, which had been milked dry by corrupt politicians who colluded to mortgage title deeds for remote land tracts to get huge bank loans - so much so that the underpinning of the bank collapsed due to a liquidity crisis.

It could be too much to expect Saxena to sing like a canary when questioned by police investigators and public prosecutors. After being wheeled into his confinement, his statement was a flat denial, saying that he would talk only in court.

The bad loans during the collapse exceeded Bt150 billion. Performing assets amounted to just Bt20 billion. They were managed by other financial institutions with hardly satisfactory results. As we know, the fiasco triggered a domino effect, leading to the closure of more than 56 non-bank financial institutions and eventually a devaluation of the baht.

The rubble from the debacle has yet to be cleared up completely. Saxena is perceived to have been at the centre of the mess, and should be persuaded to tell all so that full justice can be rendered to these white-collar criminals.

But the authorities should have done a lot more. The prime defendant so far, Krirk-kiat Jalichandra, former managing director of the failed bank, has been sentenced to many decades in jail. Yet he is still walking as a free man, pending the Supreme Court ruling. He has not been singing, and there have been no more prosecutions because some of the culprits have fled abroad or gone into hiding. After 13 years, nobody has gone to jail and we now face another crisis of a different magnitude and dimension relating to the baht-US dollar exchange rates which, if mishandled, could lead us to the same fate.

It is odd that, until now, nobody ever thought that the BBC debacle and the subsequent fall-out could have been averted if the Finance Ministry and Bank of Thailand had been vigilant and mindful of what they were supposed to do.

During the decaying and instability of the financial institutions before their collapse, the central bank had not been effective or competent in supervision up to a standard level of prudence and alertness. What's more, there were sweetheart deals and chummy loans extended to politicians, reflecting our style of crony capitalism.

Surely, if the central bank had been competent, the country would not have been branded as the cause of the so-called "Tom Yum Goong" disease with its worldwide disastrous consequences. It was sheer lack of integrity and honesty. What happened to those responsible? All are living well at major institutions, enjoying executive positions and perks, without any sense of remorse.

If the government wants to unravel the entire mess, mobilise all legal mechanisms to go after all financial loose ends and soiled hands, to restore the credibility of the legal process. Start at the beginning, covering all people concerned with former executives of the central bank and the Finance Ministry.

This is to be fair to Saxena and Krir-kiat, who should not be the only fall guys. The former fat cats at the central bank should be summoned to tell their tales of woe relating to their incompetence and dishonour. The damaged credibility of the central bank has not yet been fully repaired.

Saxena's trial should be a test case on the intent of the government. It is not enough to put all the blame on this ex-financial wizard who is confined to a wheelchair. Nobody knows how long he can tolerate tough grilling in court and incarceration in frail health.

Failure to get the mess cleared up, with just two big fish in the net, will never be satisfactory to the victims of the economic crisis at that time. Prime Minister Abhisit's utterances that all those involved and with sufficient evidence against them would be prosecuted does not provide much encouragement that all the bad guys will get what they truly deserve.

Let's hope that this hullabaloo over Saxena does not end up as another farce.