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In a major breakthrough in Rs 13,000 crore Punjab Nationwide Financial institution mortgage fraud, the Belgian police has arrested absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi.
The arrest was carried out on the premise of an extradition request made by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate, information company PTI reported.
Choksi, who has been on the run for previous seven years obtained citizenship of Caribbean nation Antigua in 2019. He got here to Belgium a number of months in the past for medical remedy.
Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Agarwal mentioned his shopper was taken into custody by the Belgian Police on Saturday .
“In the mean time, he’s in jail and there (Belgium), the process is to not apply for bail however file an attraction. Throughout that attraction, request is made that he shouldn’t be saved in detention and he needs to be permitted to defend himself and oppose the extradition request whereas not being in custody,” Agarwal instructed reporters.
He mentioned the “apparent” grounds for the attraction could be that Choksi is “not a flight danger, is extraordinarily sick and present process remedy for most cancers”.
Fraud LOUs
Choksi took over family-run diamond enterprise and made it a family identify with his Gitanjali Gems model. Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi who’s a co-accused within the case have been charged of utilizing Letters of Endeavor to safe abroad credit score for his or her diamond enterprise. As per Punjab Nationwide Financial institution’s grievance the LOUs had been issued fraudulently and in violation of Reserve Financial institution of India pointers and had been used to acquire credit score for shell firms.
The rip-off had been going since 2011 and got here to mild when PNB executives demanded full margin cash for issuing recent LOUs. A pink flag was raised and inquiry initiated after Choksi and Modi’s firms knowledgeable banks of securing LOCs with none collateral.
A case was registered in opposition to Choksi in February 2018 and chargesheets.
Subsequently in 2022 5 extra prison instances had been filed in opposition to Choksi and others for duping banks and different monetary establishments. ED has additionally connected property price Rs 2500 crore as part of its probe in opposition to Choksi.
Modi has been in a jail in the UK since 2019 his bail purposes repeatedly turned down by courts. The Indian authorities has been pushing for his extradition, elevating it with highest ranges within the UK authorities.
Revealed on April 14, 2025
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