Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was on Monday arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies for his involvement in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank loan "fraud" case. His arrest came just as Choksi was planning to flee to Switzerland for medical treatment.
After fleeing India in 2018, Choksi took citizenship in Antigua and was based there through a citizenship-by-investment program. He also managed to secure an F residency card from Belgium on November 15 last year and used documents belonging to his wife, Preeti Choksi, who is a Belgium national.
How India cracked down Choksi escape to Switzerland
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said Mehul Choksi misled the Belgium government by citing humanitarian grounds for medical treatment and used fake documents to support his claims. Even as he had not renounced his Indian or Antiguan citizenship but still applied for an F residency card from Belgian authorities, which he successfully obtained.
As soon as the Indian authorities realised that Choksi was planning to upgrade his status to an F+ residency card, which would make extradition from Belgium more difficult, the probe agencies moved quickly to request his extradition. In response to India, the Belgium authorities halted the conversion of his F residency card to F+ status.
Apart from this, Choksi had also applied for cancer treatment at Hirslanden Klinik Aarau, a specialised cancer facility in Switzerland and had secured admission and completed most of the necessary procedures.
However, before he could leave Belgium for Switzerland, he was taken into provisional custody by authorities in Antwerp. It should be noted that his arrest by Belgium authorities is on basis of two non bailable warrants issued by Mumbai court in 2018 and 2021.
The action against the second "prime suspect" in this case, after Choksi's nephew diamantaire Nirav Modi, was taken on Saturday based on an extradition request moved by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Choksi, 65, was located in Belgium last year when he went there on the grounds of getting medical treatment. He had been staying in Antigua since 2018 after leaving India.
Sources told PTI that the Interpol Red Notice against him for arrest was "deleted" sometime back by the global police body and the Indian agencies were pursuing him via the extradition route since then.
At least two open-ended arrest warrants, issued by a special court in Mumbai in 2018 and 2021, have been shared by the Indian agencies with their Belgian counterparts as part of the extradition request, the sources said.
Choksi may seek bail on health grounds
Formal paperwork is being done following the arrest/detention. Choksi may seek bail on health grounds, they said.
Choksi's lawyer Vijay Agarwal said his client was taken into custody by the Belgian Police on Saturday (April 12). "At the moment, he is in prison and there (Belgium), the procedure is not to apply for bail but file an appeal.
What is the PNB scam that Choksi is accused of?
It was alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems and others committed the offence of cheating against PNB in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LOUs (letters of undertaking) issued and got the FLCs (foreign letter of credit) enhanced without following prescribed procedure and caused a wrongful loss to the bank.
The CBI has filed at least two chargesheets against him in this case while the ED has filed three such prosecution complaints.