‘Don’t need Interpol notice for Choksi’

NEW DELHI: India’s foreign ministry has forwarded a letter from the country’s federal investigative agency to Antigua and Barbuda, explaining why a so-called Red Corner Notice (RCN) is not needed for the extradition of fugitive billionaire Mehul Choksi, one of the problems the Carribean nation has cited in acting against Choksi.

India can seek extradition of Choksi without an Interpol Red Corner Notice because his location is known now and Antigua and Barbuda have confirmed that he is their citizen, the Central Bureau of Investigation has told the external affairs ministry, officials familiar with the matter said, signalling the end of one phase of the hunt for Choksi and the beginning of the next.

In a communication to the ministry earlier this month, the agency said the purpose of an RCN is to locate an absconding accused which has already been achieved in Choksi’s case.

The agency has told the ministry that it has already written to its counterpart in Antigua seeking the provisional arrest of Choksi, one of the alleged masterminds of the over $2 billion bank fraud perpetrated on Punjab National Bank.

“The contention of Antiguan authorities that the only way the movement of Choksi could be restricted is through issue a Red Corner Notice is not legally sound as primary objective of locating the subject has already been addressed,” the CBI’s letter to the ministry said.