Bangkok, Oct 26 (IANS): A Thai court on Monday denied Swiss extortionist Xavier Andre Justo's bail request, a media report said.
The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on August 17 sentenced Justo, 49, to three years in prison for attempted blackmail of his former employer PetroSaudi International (PSI). He was arrested earlier on June 22, The Bangkok Post reported.
On October 14, Justo's lawyer asked the appellate court to change the sentence to a suspended prison term. On Monday, his lawyer sought bail for his client pending the outcome of his appeal.
The court denied the request. It said Justo’s prison term had already been reduced by half, on his confession and, if released, he might jump bail.
Justo had previously claimed he was offered $2 million to share confidential data from PetroSaudi with an unidentified Malaysian group, but he was never paid.