Mehul Choksi declared ‘prohibited immigrant’ by Dominica government

Photo of Mehul Choksi released by a local media outlet showing him behind bars (Image: Antigua News Room)

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has been declared a “prohibited immigrant” by the Dominican government, reported the Economic Times.

The order issued by Dominica’s Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs declaring the fugitive businessman a “prohibited immigrant” in the country stated: “In accordance to section 5(1)(f) of the Immigration and Passport Act Chapter 18:01 of the 2017 Revised laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica, you, Mr Mehul Chinubhai Choksi, are hereby declared a prohibited immigrant.”

The May 25 order undersigned by Dominican minister Rayburn Blackmoore further stated that: “You are, therefore, not permitted to enter the Commonwealth of Dominica and the Chief of Police has been instructed to take all the necessary actions to have you repatriated.”

However, Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has reportedly declared Choksi an “Indian citizen”.

At present, he is lodged in a jail in Dominica for entering the country illegally, although he has claimed that he was kidnapped from Antigua and Barbuda and taken to the country.

Mehul Choksi had gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda, where he had been granted citizenship and had been staying since 2018.

The diamantaire and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted in India in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. This development will likely strengthen India’s case against him.