PNB loan ‘fraud’ case: Mehul Choksi to be extradited to India?

Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, who is wanted for his alleged involvement in the ₹13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan 'fraud' case, has reportedly been arrested in Belgium upon India’s extradition request.

 

The absconding diamond jeweller was reportedly living in Antwerp with his wife Preeti Choksi, after being granted residency – F Residency Card – in Belgium in November 2023. He was held on April 12 from a hospital where he has been undergoing treatment.

 

After the Interpol dropped the Red Corner Notice (RCN) against him in 2023 which allowed him to travel outside Antigua, where he has been living since 2018, without fearing detention or probe, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI had moved for his extradition from Belgium.

What is the Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan 'fraud' case?

 

Choksi had been a fugitive since 2018, after the diamantaire, his nephew and diamond trader Nirav Modi and their family members and employees, bank officials and others were booked by the ED and the CBI in connection with the alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of PNB in Mumbai.

 

The enforcement agency alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems and others defrauded the PNB through fraudulent letters of undertaking (LOUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) in connivance with certain bank officials.

 

The ED has been trying to declare Choksi a Fugitive Economic Offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act through a Mumbai court. The agency has filed three charge sheets against Choksi till now, and the CBI too has filed similar charge sheets against him.

 

Nirav Modi, meanwhile, is in a UK prison and is contesting extradition proceedings initiated by Indian agencies.

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