BBC ex-chief Krirk-Kiat dies at 63
Banker at heart of long-running financial scandal was serving a 20-year jail term
Krirk-Kiat Jalichandra, 63, the disgraced ex-president of the now-defunct Bangkok Bank of Commerce (BBC), passed away yesterday, ending a controversial chapter in Thai banking history involving the scandal-tainted BBC.
Krirk-Kiat, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail in March 2010 in one case, still faced criminal and civil charges in 22 other cases, while one had reached the statutory limit.
The funeral rite will be held at Wat That Thong, Bangkok.
In 1996, the Bank of Thailand shut down the BBC and filed criminal and civil charges against Krirk-Kiat and the bank for illegal lending, massive embezzlement and other wrongdoings.
Krirk-Kiat, who had an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, started his career at Phatra Securities before moving to the central bank, where he worked for 10 years.
In 1986, he joined BBC, which was then controlled by his family, and later took up the bank’s presidency.
Under his leadership, BBC embarked on an aggressive expansion programme, advised by Rakesh Saxena, the Indian-born financier who was later appointed Krirk-Kiat’s chief adviser.
Saxena in key role
Saxena is now being held in a Bangkok prison after Thai authorities won a lengthy extradition battle to bring him back to face justice.
From 1993 to 1995, Saxena played a crucial role in running the BBC business, which was focused on lending funds to investors who wanted to take over companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Among the BBC clients were politicians in the so-called Group of 16, which then included Newin Chidchob, Suchart Tan-charern, Chucheep Harnsawad and Sora-art Klin-prathum.
BBC was also involved in massive and dubious lending for multi-billion-baht overseas transactions, resulting in huge losses and subsequent bankruptcy.
BBC was brought to its knees on huge leverage and improper lending, under the guidance of Saxena.
Krirk-Kiat and Saxena were allegedly responsible for changing the bank’s focus from routine banking operations to high finance, stock-market speculation and takeover deals.
Several dozen dummy companies had been set up and bank deposits shuffled around in deals involving both local and international banks.
The Bank of Thailand filed a total of 26 lawsuits against Krirk-Kiat, Saxena and other accomplices for violating the Commercial Banking Act of BE 2505 and the Securities and Exchange Commission Act BE 2035.
Of the lawsuits, 17 were listed as causing public damage to the tune of Bt50 billion.
As of September 30, 2012, the central bank reported that 26 lawsuits were pending in various courts.
Of the total, 13 lawsuits are still in the lower court, while seven are in the Court of Appeals and six are in the Supreme Court.
Krirk-Kiat was a defendant in 22 lawsuits, while Saxena was a defendant in four separate cases.
In a March 11, 2009 verdict, Krirk-Kiat was sentenced by the lower court to 20 years in jail plus a fine of Bt3.1 billion.
Later, Krirk-Kiat sought a deferment on this case, citing ill health as he dealt with terminal cancer.
Overall, it was earlier estimated the former banker faced total imprisonment of 150 years and fines totalling Bt60 billion.
Krirk-Kiat had been suffering from lung cancer for years. Since 2010, he had appeared in courts to fight the embezzlement and other charges, in fragile physical condition.
Sri-amporn Salikoop, a Supreme Court judge, said the criminal lawsuits against Krirk-Kiat would come to an end, but the civil suits would continue even though the defendant had passed away.
This means the damaged parties and creditors could still pursue cases involving his inheritances and other assets.
