NEW DELHI, April 14: Fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi, one of the prime accused in the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case, has been arrested in Belgium, reports confirmed on Monday. Choksi was detained on Saturday following a formal extradition request from Indian agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Choksi, who has been a key player in the massive fraud case along with his nephew Nirav Modi, was tracked down in Belgium last year, where he had gone for medical treatment. Since fleeing India in 2018, Choksi had been residing in Antigua. He is believed to owe over Rs 6,000 crore to 34 Indian banks.
Despite the Interpol Red Notice against him being withdrawn, Indian authorities continued their efforts to extradite him through diplomatic and legal means. As part of the extradition process, the Indian government shared two open-ended arrest warrants—issued by a special Mumbai court in 2018 and 2021—with Belgian authorities.
According to reports, after his arrest, formal paperwork is currently being processed, and Choksi is expected to seek bail on health grounds.
The CBI and ED had booked Choksi, Nirav Modi, their family members, several employees, and officials from PNB in 2018 in connection with the large-scale banking fraud. Investigations have revealed that Choksi, operating through his company Gitanjali Gems, allegedly colluded with certain PNB officials to fraudulently secure Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs), resulting in significant financial losses to the bank.
In March and April of 2017 alone, PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai issued 165 LoUs and 58 FLCs fraudulently, enabling the discounting of 311 bills. None of these transactions followed the bank’s official sanctioning or documentation procedures, facilitating the massive scam.
So far, the CBI has filed at least two charge sheets, and the ED has submitted three prosecution complaints against Choksi in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, Nirav Modi, who is also facing charges in the same fraud case, has been lodged in a London jail since his arrest in 2019 and continues to contest his extradition to India.
