Fugitive financier accused of running British boiler room

There was news from Canada at the weekend of Rakesh Saxena, the man who helped to precipitate the Arms to Africa Affair.

In December 1997, Saxena agreed to pay Tim Spicer's Sandline International to restore the ousted president of Sierra Leone, Ahmad Kabbah, in return for diamond concessions.

Saxena had made an initial payment of $1.5 million when he was arrested in Vancouver and charged with carrying a forged Yugoslavian passport. He has been under house arrest ever since fighting attempts to extradite him to Thailand.

He was accused of massive embezzlement from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, which collapsed in 1996, in what proved to be a precursor of the Asian Financial Crisis.

in spite of the restrictions on his movements, it seems that Saxena is still enaged in questionable business dealings.

According to documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Saxena -- who is wanted by Thai authorities for allegedly embezzling $88 million from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce -- helped revitalize a series of shell companies whose shares were not listed on any public exchange.

He then arranged for high-pressure telemarketing organizations, commonly known as boiler rooms, to sell those shares to investors, mainly in the United Kingdom, from January 2001 to October 2003.

...

Securities records show that in most cases, the issuing companies had no viable business and no dividends were paid. Some investors say they did not get their shares, and in other cases, the shares were never publicly listed and are therefore essentially worthless. (Vancouver Sun)