Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, who is wanted in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB scam and had gone missing for some days in Antigua and Barbuda, has been traced in Dominica and been arrested by the local police there.
Dominica is a small island nation in the Caribbean Sea.
The Antigua Police has contacted the police in Dominica to seek his custody. Mehul Choksi was traced in Dominica after a ‘yellow cornor’ notice was issued by the Interpol. He reached Dominica from Antigua and Barbuda through a boat.Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne also asked the Dominican government to detain him for entering their country illegally, to make him persona non grata and have him deported directly to India.
Mehul Choksi had been staying in Antigua and Barbuda since January 2018. He and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly siphoning Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) using letters of undertaking.
While Nirav Modi is in a London prison after being repeatedly denied bail and is contesting his extradition to India, Mehul Choksi took citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 using the Citizenship by Investment programme before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018.
After Mehul Choksi’s sudden disappearance, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has collaborated with the Indian government, neighbouring countries and international police organisation to try to locate him.Mehul Choksi is facing two cases Antigua and Barbuda. One deals with his extradition to India and the other concerns revocation of his citizenship.He has brought a celebrated lawyer from the United Kingdom to represent him in these cases.
Following the news of Mehul Choksi’s sudden disappearance, the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing allegations is verifying the reports through “formal and informal” channels, including the Interpol.
Meanwhile, Mehul Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal have spoken to the family. The family is happy and relieved that finally whereabouts of Mehul Choksi are known. Efforts are being made to speak to him so that one can know the clear picture on how he was taken to Dominica.
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