CBI in touch with Belgium authorities to extradite fugitive Mehul Choksi

Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, who left Antigua and Barbuda last year and has been living in Belgium since, has been taken into custody on India’s request, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had requested the Belgian government to arrest Choksi last year before sending an extradition request.

Choksi’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, in February told a Mumbai court that his client was in Belgium for treatment. The court was hearing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea to declare Choksi a fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA).

An officer said Choksi was arrested on Saturday. He added that his bail would take time even as the CBI is now in touch with the Belgian authorities to execute its extradition request.

Choksi is wanted in India in a Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. An Interpol red notice was issued against him in 2018. It was withdrawn in November 2022 after Choksi approached Interpol, alleging Indian agents abducted him from Antigua and Barbuda in May 2021 on a yacht to Dominica. The Indian government flew in a team of investigators to secure his deportation from Dominica, where he was not a citizen. Choksi filed a petition in the Dominica high court alleging abduction and torture.

Prosecutors appearing for India filed a request in Dominica in June 2021, alleging that Choksi was the mastermind of a ₹13,578 crore loan fraud and owed ₹7,080 crore ($952 million) to the state-owned PNB and sought to declare him an Indian citizen and deport him.

His capture caused a political storm in the Caribbean with opposition parties accusing governments of Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda of colluding with India to abduct the businessman.

Antigua Royal Police investigated the alleged abduction based on Choksi’s lawyers’ complaint. Their findings mirrored Choksi’s allegations.

Dominica, which initiated illegal entry proceedings against Choksi, withdrew its case and sent him back to Antigua on July 15, 2021.

The CBI has filed three more cases against Choksi for allegedly cheating banks, including ICICI Bank of ₹6,746 crore. The ED is conducting a parallel money laundering probe against Choksi. It has attached his properties worth over ₹2,500 crore and initiated their restitution.