NEW DELHI: Fugitive diamond merchantMehul Choksi, wanted in connection with PNB scam of around Rs 14,000 crore, was arrested on Saturday in Belgium after a renewed extradition push by Indian probe agencies.
His arrest came after years of evading authorities since he fled India in 2018.
Choksi, 65, was reportedly detained from a hospital in Belgium, where he had been staying since last year after arriving there for medical treatment.
Probe agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), scaled-up their efforts to bring him back after the Interpol Red Notice against him was removed.
The Belgian government had earlier confirmed Choksi’s presence in the country and said it was giving the matter “great importance and attention,” especially after he vanished from Antigua, where he had been living since 2018.
His lawyer Vijay Agarwal confirmed the arrest, saying, “At the moment, he is in prison and there (Belgium), the procedure is not to apply for bail but file an appeal. During that appeal, request is made that he should not be kept in detention and he should be permitted to defend himself and oppose the extradition request while not being in custody.”
Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Group, is the “prime suspect” in defrauding India’s second-largest public sector bank, PNB, through fraudulent letters of undertaking (LOUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs), allegedly in connivance with bank officials. His nephew, Nirav Modi, also an accused in the case, is currently jailed in London.
As part of the extradition request, Indian authorities had shared at least two non-bailable warrants with their Belgian counterparts, issued by a special court in Mumbai in 2018 and 2021.
This is not the first time Choksi has been detained. In May 2021, he was held in Dominica for illegal entry, prompting a CBI team to attempt his return to India — a mission that ultimately failed after a court allowed him to return to Antigua for medical treatment.
The Interpol Red Notice was removed shortly afterward upon his plea.
In a related crackdown, the ED attached assets worth Rs 14.45 crore in February 2021, including a Mumbai flat, luxury watches, gold and platinum jewellery, precious stones, and a Mercedes-Benz. In total, assets worth over Rs 2,550 crore have been attached by the ED in this case.
Choksi may seek relief on medical grounds, but officials say the process of securing his extradition is under way.
