Mehul Choksi, who was arrested in Belgium for his involvement in the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, has been evading authorities since 2018. Various media reports suggest Choksi was finally arrested while he was planning to flee to Switzerland.
Choksi had gone to Belgium on the grounds of getting medical treatment. Reports suggest he was being treated for blood cancer. He had been staying in Antigua since 2018 after leaving India.Interpol Red Notice against him for arrest was “deleted” sometime back and the Indian agencies were pursuing him via the extradition route since then.
Choksi, 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.
He fled India the same year and initially travelled to the United States before settling in Antigua. A year prior, in 2017, he had acquired Antiguan nationality.
In May 2019, Choksi’s nephew, Nirav Modi, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London. Although he has exhausted all legal avenues for extradition, he continues to be under arrest in the United Kingdom.
In March 2023, Interpol revoked the red notice against Mehul Choksi.
In 2024, Choksi and his wife reportedly relocated from Antigua to Belgium.
Reports from Antiguan media suggested that Mehul and Preeti Choksi were considering settling in Geneva.
According to the investigating agencies, officials at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai issued 165 LoUs and 58 FLCs during March-April 2017, against which 311 bills were discounted.
ANTIGUA PM SAYS REVOCATION OF HIS CITIZENSHIP ORDERED
Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, confirmed that his government had ordered the revocation of Choksi’s citizenship. However, said the matter was pending in court.
