Mehul Choksi arrested in Belgium, likely to be extradited to India

Photo of Mehul Choksi in May 2022

Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi was arrested by the Belgium police on Saturday, at the behest of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to reports.

The 65-year-old businesman who is a prime accused in the the $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud is likely to be extradited to India.

India has an extradition treaty with Belgium and the authorities there have sought a formal extradition request from Indian authorities.

Choksi who is currently in jail is expected to seek bail and an immediate release, citing health reasons.

PTI quoted its sources as saying that after the Interpol Red Notice against him for arrest was "deleted", the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI moved for his extradition from Belgium.

On the extradition of Choksi, his advocate Vijay Aggarwal said, "This is a process of any country, whether it is India or anywhere else... If a country makes a request to another country, then the process is that first the person is arrested and then he is granted bail and then his extradition is contested. It has become very difficult for India after losing the case of Sanjiv Bhandari. I don't think extradition can be done so easily, moreover after Bhandari's judgement."

Choksi’s and his nephew, Nirav Modi have been accused of defrauding the PNB of over Rs 14,000 crore, one of biggest scam in the history of Indian banking.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Monday lauded the arrest of fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi in Belgium, stating that it was a "very big achievement".

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already said that those who have looted the money of the poor will have to return it. And action is being taken against such people in the country. Mehul Choksi has been arrested; it is definitely a very big achievement," Chaudhrary stated.

Foreign affairs expert Robinder Sachdev said, "It is a welcome development that Mehul Choksi has been arrested provisionally by the Belgian authorities on india's request. It is a diplomatic victory. It is a victory for our legal teams, who've been working on this along with our Foreign Office. More so because one year ago, Interpol had taken Mehul Choksi's name off of its red Corner notices alert for some reason. Basically, Chokasi had alleged that Indian agents were trying to kidnap him in Antigua and multiple other things..."

Choksi, Nirav Modi, their family members and employees, bank officials and others were booked by the CBI and the ED in 2018 for perpetrating the alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Mumbai.

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 Choksi while the ED has filed three such prosecution complaints in the fraud case.