SINGAPORE - The Attorney-General's Chambers and Singapore Police Force are working with British authorities on the final stages of extraditing David James Roach, the man wanted for an alleged bank robbery here in 2016.

Roach, a Canadian national, will face charges of robbery and money laundering, both agencies said in a joint statement on Thursday (Feb 13).

"The Singapore authorities will do whatever is necessary and permissible within our legal framework to seek justice against those who commit crimes in Singapore, regardless of nationality and where they might have fled to," they added.

"We will also not hesitate to take firm action against these individuals, and will seek an appropriate sentence if they are convicted."

Roach, who is accused of robbing Standard Chartered Bank's Holland Village branch of $30,450 on July 7, 2016, fled to Thailand the same day.

He was subsequently arrested there in July 2016 and deported by Thailand to Canada in January 2018, after serving a prison term for criminal offences.

He was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit in January 2018 while on transit there. In October 2018, Roach was ordered to be extradited. He appealed against this decision, but was rejected.

He then renewed this application to appeal, which was granted in October 2019. However, this permission to appeal was limited to his extradition on the money laundering charge.

On Feb 4, the UK High Court heard and dismissed Roach's appeal. The judge was not convinced by his claim that there was abuse of process when his conviction in Thailand was weighed against one of the charges he is wanted for in Singapore.