New Delhi: Diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, accused in the Rs 13,600 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, was placed under “provisional arrest” by the Belgian police Saturday, after a formal request was made by the Indian authorities, ThePrint has learnt.
According to sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a request was made by them to Belgian authorities following which they moved to make the provisional arrest.
A formal extradition request to Belgium was also sent “a few months ago”, one of the CBI sources confirmed. “We had been pressing for his arrest for the last few months after his location was confirmed in Belgium. Finally, it was done by Belgium police and we were informed,” the CBI source said.
Both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have already sent a formal extradition request to Belgium through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for Choksi’s return, the source added.
In an email response to queries by ThePrint, Belgian authorities confirmed Choksi’s arrest on 12 April and added that he was “being detained in anticipation of further judicial proceedings”. The response added that “access to his legal counsel has been assured”.
“Finally, the Belgian federal public service of Justice can confirm that the Indian authorities have introduced an extradition request for Mr Choksi,” the response said, adding that as is the standard in individual cases, no further details can be released at this stage.
A source in the CBI said that Choksi is likely to move bail citing his health conditions but is currently under custody of the Belgian police. “Since this is a provisional arrest on CBI’s request, he now can pursue the legal options in Belgium and the entire process will be through the court there,” the source said.
A provisional arrest is a temporary detention of an individual to prevent them from leaving a country before a formal extradition request can be processed. It is the first step in the extradition process.
Choksi is the managing director of ‘Gitanjali Gems’ and also the maternal uncle of Nirav Modi. The diamantaire had taken over Gitanjali Gems from his father Chinubhai Choksi in 1985. He built an extended product-portfolio by launching brands such as Gili, Nakshatra, Asmi, D’damas, Maya, Diya, and Sangini.
According to the ED, an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the Mehul Choksi case revealed that he connived with his associates and bank officials of PNB between 2014 and 2017 and fraudulently obtained Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs 6,097.63 crore to the bank. He had also taken a loan from ICICI Bank and defaulted on that loan as well, the ED said.
The 22-page CBI FIR mentions details of all 143 LOUs that were issued by PNB to overseas branches of banks in just three months.
The FIR mentions names of 16 accused and companies, including unnamed PNB officials who allegedly facilitated issuance of LOUs to the companies. The CBI suspects that it could not have been possible without the connivance of higher-ups in the bank.
In 2021, a team of Indian officials went to Dominica on a private jet, allegedly to bring back Choksi, but returned empty handed. Choksi’s attorney Wayne Marsh had claimed that he was abducted by some people who looked like “Indians along with Antigua Police”, hinting that it was indeed an operation by the Indian agencies to get Choksi out of Antigua, which failed.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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