Hong Kong has extradited a man suspected of letter of credit (L/C) fraud to India in a drawn out process that underlines some of the difficulties faced by investigators and prosecutors of cross-border fraud cases.

Fortunately in this case India and Hong Kong have signed an extradition treaty but in a lot of cases where no such treaty or extradition arrangements exist, bringing people to justice can be very difficult indeed.

Mumbai charges

Hong Kong extradited businessman Ashok Sadarangani, who fled India after allegedly cheating the equivalent of more than US$1.75 million from several Mumbai banks.

A spokesman for India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has been investigating the case, said Sadarangani, the proprietor of Mumbai-based Internat Impax and Challenger Imports, had been brought to Mumbai to face two cases filed in the bureau's special court.

Hong Kong flight

Sadarangani has been put firmly under lock and key in remand pending further interrogation because during questioning in India more three years ago he was remanded on bail but in February 2001 he fled India.

This meant that as well as tracking Sadarangani down, eventually to Hong Kong, the CBI had to complete its probe into the alleged frauds before submitting a formal extradition request to Hong Kong.

Documentation

All this requires not only very large volumes of documentation but also diplomatic interventions at several levels to ensure the case is submitted to a court authorised to issue an extradition order.

The CBI's submission was sent in January this year to Hong Kong where it was scrutinised by the authorities and then forwarded to a court of law for its consideration.

Success

In this instance the CBI's request was successful but if the suspect had fled to almost any other country, his extradition would have been very much more difficult.

India has signed extradition treaties with just 11 countries: Nepal, Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, UAE, UK, France, US, Switzerland, Bhutan and Hong Kong. Eight more countries have agreed extradition arrangements with India. These are Sweden, Tanzania, Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Thailand.

Charges

The allegations brought against Sadarangani say he cheated the equivalent of just over US$1 million from Bank of Maharashtra Overseas Bank and around US$836,000 from Union Bank of India.

The accused allegedly raised finance from the banks against L/Cs opened for the import of goods but instead of bringing the consignments to India, Sadarangani redirected the goods to a third country where they were sold without the banks' knowledge.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of ICC or the other partners in DC-PRO.