Brussels/New Delhi, Apr 13: Fugitive Indian diamantaire Mehul Choksi has been arrested in Belgium after India requested his extradition. Choksi is accused of being involved in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case.
His arrest came just weeks after reports confirmed that he was living in Antwerp, Belgium, with his wife, Preeti Choksi, who is a Belgian citizen.
He had reportedly received a residency card to reside in the country.
According to sources quoted by news agency PTI, Indian agencies – the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – pushed for his extradition after the Interpol Red Notice for his arrest was "deleted".
In March, Caribbean-based media outlet Associated Times also reported that Indian authorities had asked Belgium to send Choksi back to India.
Notably, Mehul Choksi, the founder of Gitanjali Gems, is wanted in India for his role in the PNB scam, where fake letters of undertaking were used to get huge bank loans fraudulently.
His nephew, Nirav Modi, is also accused in the same case and is currently in a UK jail, fighting extradition to India.
Choksi was granted Belgian residency on November 15, 2023, through an ‘F Residency Card’. However, reports say he used false documents and didn’t tell Belgian authorities about his Indian and Antiguan citizenships. Without giving up his Indian or Antiguan citizenship, but he applied for an F residency card in Belgium and got it.
When Indian officials found out he was trying to upgrade it to an F+ card—which would have made it harder to send him back to India—they quickly asked Belgium to extradite him. Belgium then stopped his card upgrade.
Choksi had also applied for cancer treatment in Switzerland at a special hospital, Hirslanden Klinik Aarau. He had almost finished the admission process there. But before he could travel, Belgian police arrested him in Antwerp and took him into custody. In Switzerland, he had also applied for urgent treatment, saying his health was poor and needed care on humanitarian grounds.
His arrest is based on two non-bailable warrants issued by a Mumbai court in 2018 and 2021.
This was allegedly done to avoid being sent back to India.
His lawyer told a Mumbai court in February that Choksi was in Belgium to get treatment for suspected cancer.
Reports also said he was planning to travel to Switzerland for treatment at a well-known cancer hospital.
