Mehul Choksi, accused in India’s biggest PNB bank scam, has been arrested in Belgium. Find out who he is and why India is making strong efforts to bring him back.
Mehul Choksi is a famous diamond businessman and has been the owner of a company named 'Gitanjali Gems'. But now he is a fugitive criminal, who has cheated the country of crores.
Choksi is accused of defrauding PNB of ₹13,500 crore along with his nephew Nirav Modi. They sent money abroad with the help of fake documents and guarantee letters.
After the scam surfaced in 2018, Choksi fled India and moved to Antigua and Barbuda. Later, reports said he was living in Antwerp, Belgium with wife Preeti Choksi.
According to reports, Choksi gave fake documents to mislead the Belgian government. He hid his Indian and Antigua citizenship and presented himself with a different identity.
India's CBI and ED had sought his extradition from Belgium. After the Interpol Red Notice was removed, India intensified the pressure and now he has been arrested in Belgium.
Reports say Choksi was trying to flee Belgium for Switzerland under the guise of treatment. His lawyer told the Mumbai court he had gone abroad for cancer treatment.
In 2018, ED sought to declare Choksi a 'Fugitive Economic Offender', a plea still pending in court. If approved, the government can seize all his properties.
While Choksi has been caught in Belgium, his nephew Nirav Modi is still lodged in a London jail and is trying to avoid extradition to India.