NEW DELHI: With the CBI’s Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) was live against fugitive Indian diamond merchant Mehul Choksi with member nations, law enforcement authorities in Belgium have arrested him and informed India about his detention, sources here said on Monday.
India has an extradition treaty with Belgium and the authorities there have asked Indian agencies to submit a formal extradition request, they added.
The sources said, Choksi, who is currently lodged in a jail, is expected to seek bail and an immediate release, citing health reasons, as his defence team plans to move for bail, claiming that it will oppose his extradition.
The sources, while giving details of the turn of events, said, Choksi was arrested in Belgium on Saturday after local authorities confirmed his presence in the country. Now with him under custody, preparations were being made for his extradition to India, they added.
Choksi, a 65-year-old fugitive diamond merchant, left India on January 2, 2018 and is wanted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly defrauding public sector bank PNB of Rs 13,850 crore. His nephew, Nirav Modi, also partnered him in the fraud.
He fled India, initially travelling to the United States before settling in Antigua. Before leaving India, Choksi took the citizenship of Antigua in 2017 and was later arrested in Dominica, allegedly trying to flee to Cuba, although his counsel had claimed that he had been kidnapped from Antigua.
Dominica deported him back to Antigua despite India making a representation for extradition in the court. He left Dominica, reportedly to seek treatment for Cancer in Belgium.
As the CBI investigation in the fraud case, Choksi connived with his associates and officials of the bank from 2014 to 2017 and fraudulently obtained Letters of Undertaking and Foreign Letters of Credit, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs. 6,097.63 crore to PNB.
During the investigation, the ED conducted searches at more than 136 locations all over India and seized valuables/jewellery worth Rs. 597.75 crore pertaining to the Gitanjali Group owned by Choksi.
Further, immovable/movable assets worth Rs 1968.15 crore of Mehul Choksi and Gitanjali Group were attached, including immovable properties in India and overseas, vehicles, bank accounts, a factory, shares of listed companies, and jewellery. In aggregate, assets worth Rs. 2,565.90 crore were attached or seized in this case, and three Prosecution Complaints (ED Charge sheet) have been filed.
Two weeks back, fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi and his wife, Preeti Choksi, obtained an F Residency Card in Belgium, the sources said, adding Preeti, a Belgian citizen, has family ties in the country, as does Choksi’s extended family.
In 2024, the couple relocated to Belgium from Antigua. Choksi’s nephew, Nirav Modi, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London back in May 2019. Although Modi has exhausted all legal avenues for extradition, he continues to be in a UK jail.
