February 18, 2010
BANGKOK (AFP) - A court in Thailand agreed Thursday to extradite a Briton to the United Arab Emirates on charges of embezzling 150 million dollars from a Dubai company.
Michael Bryan Smith, 43, was arrested in Bangkok's red light district in May last year after spending eight months on the run.
"The court has decided to extradite him to the UAE," a judge at Bangkok criminal court said.
"Even though Thailand and the UAE do not have an extradition treaty, the UAE has expressed the willingness to do favours if Thailand asks in future."
Smith allegedly siphoned off other workers' salaries into his own bank account while working as a personnel manager at a Dubai property company, Thai police said in May, citing the warrant from the UAE.
Police said Smith, who is married to a Thai woman, had travelled extensively through Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Thailand after fleeing Dubai in 2008.
