© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Mehul Choksi Arrested Update: Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamond trader wanted in India for the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case, has been arrested in Belgium after India made an extradition request.
Choksi’s legal team is filing an appeal against the arrest. “Our appeal seeking his release on bail will mainly be on the ground that (due to) his medical condition, he is undergoing treatment for cancer. We will also be arguing that he is not a flight risk,” Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told The Indian Express on Monday morning (April 14).
Choksi had taken the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda and fled India just before an FIR was registered in the PNB scam. What exactly is he accused of, and how have attempts to extradite him gone so far? What is likely to happen now?
Choksi is facing criminal proceedings by both CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The CBI had first named Choksi and his firms, including Gitanjali Gems, in 2018, based on a complaint received by Punjab National Bank (PNB) for alleged issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking in their favour causing losses to the bank.
The ED subsequently filed a complaint alleging that Choksi and others were involved in money-laundering the proceeds of crime in overseas accounts. Choksi has been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and other sections pertaining to cheating, criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A similar case was also filed against Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi, alleging that they both colluded with some staffers of PNB to perpetrate the multi-crore fraud.
The ED filed a plea in 2018 under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against Choksi, which is yet to be decided. If Choksi is declared a fugitive economic offender and does not return to India, his properties can be confiscated even before the trial against him begins.
Choksi took the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in November 2017, through an investment for citizenship programme. The ED claims he left India on January 2, 2018, days before an FIR was filed in the PNB case.
What has happened since the FIR?
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India does not have an Extradition Treaty with Antigua & Barbuda, but an “extradition arrangement is in place since 2001.” While the legal process for extradition was going on, in 2021, India was accused of plotting a secret operation to get Choksi back to the country.
In May of that year, Choksi was apprehended in Dominica for illegal entry. His family and lawyers alleged thr jeweller had been “kidnapped by Indian agents” on May 23 by trapping him through a Hungarian woman. He was then allegedly ferried to Dominica in a yacht by two Indians.
India appealed to Dominica for extradition, but Choksi was sent back to Antigua and Barbuda.
Choksi is in Antwerp allegedly for cancer treatment. His wife, Preeti Choksi, is a Belgian citizen, and Mehul has reportedly obtained an ‘F Card’ to stay in the country, which is issued to family members of European Union citizens.
While India does have an extradition treaty with Belgium, the legal process could be long. Choksi’s team is likely to use his health condition to argue against deportation to India.
In the past, he has used a variety of arguments to contest extradition. For example, in 2018, he had said there was a threat to his life and there was a “trend of mob lynching” in India. Choksi’s legal team is also likely to use the Dominica ‘kidnapping’ episode, in which he had sustained injuries, to argue against extradition to India.
