New Delhi, April 14 - Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi has been arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian investigating agencies. Choksi is wanted by the investigating agencies in the Rs 13,000 crore bank loan 'fraud' case with Punjab National Bank. The action against the second 'prime suspect' in the case after Choksi's nephew diamantaire Nirav Modi was taken on Saturday on the basis of an extradition request filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Choksi's presence in Belgium was learnt last year. The diamond merchant, who had been living in Antigua after leaving India in 2018, had gone there for medical treatment. Sources said that the Interpol Red Notice issued for Choksi's arrest was 'withdrawn' some time ago and Indian agencies have been tracking him since then and trying to nab him through the extradition route.
Sources said that Indian agencies have shared at least two arrest warrants issued by a special court in Mumbai in 2018 and 2021 with their Belgian counterparts as extradition requests. They said that formal paperwork is being completed after the arrest/detention as Choksi may seek bail on health grounds. The CBI and ED had registered a case against Choksi, Modi, their family members and employees, bank officials and others in 2018 for alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Mumbai.
The FIR alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems and others ‘in collusion with some bank officials committed fraud against PNB. By fraudulently issuing LoUs (Letters of Undertaking) and extending FLCs (Foreign Letters of Credit) without following the prescribed procedure, caused undue loss to the bank.’ The CBI has filed at least two chargesheets against Choksi in this case while the ED has filed three such complaints. Nirav Modi, who was declared a fugitive economic offender, is lodged in a London jail after being taken into custody by the authorities there in 2019 on the basis of a legal request made by the ED and the CBI in this case. He is opposing his extradition to India. The ED has attached assets worth Rs 2,565.90 crore in the case against Choksi and the court has allowed the ‘monetisation’ of all these assets.