Dominica withdraws case against fugitive Mehul Choksi over illegal entry

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, May 21, 2022: Authorities in Dominica have "discontinued the proceedings against Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi over his ’illegal entry’ into the island nation, officials said today.

 

Choksi, who is wanted by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate in connection with ₹ 13, 500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, had gone missing on May 23 last year from Antigua, and mysteriously surfaced in Dominica.

He flew back to Antigua in July last year after being granted bail by the Dominica High Court on medical grounds.

Choksi had contested his case against the ’illegal entry’ claim, alleging that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua on May 23 by policemen looking like Antiguan and Indian and brought to Dominica on a boat.

He has been staying in Antigua since 2018 as a citizen.

The CBI recently registered a fresh case against the fugitive diamantaire and his company Gitanjali Gems for allegedly defrauding the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI).

Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, are accused of duping the PNB of ₹ 13,500 crore in total using Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) by bribing its officials at the Brady House branch in Mumbai.

Choksi had taken the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 using the Citizenship by Investment Programme even before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018, while Nirav Modi is lodged in a London prison after repeated denial of bail, and is contesting extradition to India.