Almost a month after the Police promised to pursue the StanChart bank robber, James Roach’s return from whichever country he is in, (according to publicly available information) he remains outside the clutches of our local law enforcement agencies.
James, a Canadian, who is suspected of robbing the Singapore bank of $30,000 fled to Thailand soon after. He was apprehended by the Thai police soon after, but it did not extradite the suspect to Singapore because the Republic does not have an extradition treaty with the country.
Thai Police Commissioner General Jakthip Chaijinda told reporters in Bangkok on 13 July that “Singapore is in the middle of asking for this suspect back but the decision rests with the courts.”
Thailand’s head of immigration, Police Lieutenant General Nattorn Prohsunthorn, however said that the Thai police did not technically arrest Roach; they merely cancelled his right to stay in Thailand. They are therefore not able to keep him for very long, he added.
He further said that the Canadian authorities are trying to send Roach back to his country of birth, and that they will follow Thai legal procedure in sending him away from Thailand.
The Police in responding to media queries on the Roach’s extradition said that in the event where the suspect is unable to be repatriated to Singapore directly by the Thai authorities, it will pursue his return from whichever country Thailand decides to send him to.