So the commotion surrounding the Standard Chartered bank robbery in Holland Village on July 7 has died down, but Singapore is still going strong in its efforts to extradite Canadian national David James Roach, the key suspect in the heist. The 27-year-old allegedly gave the bank teller a note that said he was carrying a weapon, and fled the country that same day with the stolen $30,000.
Roach arrived in Bangkok and stayed at a hostel, but was found and detained by the Thai police three days later. Since then, he has been held at Bangkok’s immigration detention centre.
Unfortunately, Bangkok has now rejected our extradition request.
“We denied it because we are not in the position to consider it,” said Mr Amnat Chotchai, director-general of the international affairs department at the Attorney General’s Office. No further explanation was given.
Thailand and Singapore do not have an extradition treaty, and it is uncertain whether there are other ways to fly Roach from Bangkok to Singapore to face trial. If he cannot be extradited, he will be deported back to Canada, and Singapore would have to take up the case with Canadian officials, which will be complicated due to the non-existence of an extradition treaty between the two countries.
Thailand’s immigration police chief Nathathorn Prousoontorn says he is waiting for a final decision, as immigration can’t detain him for too long, and it’s already been over a month. The Canadian government wants Roach back, but the Thai Attorney-General’s Office hasn’t concluded processing a request by Singapore police to examine the items found on Roach in Thailand.
The Singapore police have said they are still working with Thai officials on the case.
