Govt investigators sent to get Choksi return from Dominica
NEW DELHI: A team of government investigators sent to Dominica in a private jet last week to bring back fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi returned to India on Friday after it became clear that legal proceedings in the island’s courts may last several weeks.
Publicly available flight data showed that the jet took off from Douglas-Charles airport in Dominica at 8.09pm local time on Thursday and was heading towards India via Madrid at the time of filing of this report. It is likely to land in New Delhi at 11pm on Friday. The investigators are on the flight, said people familiar with the developments.
“We have a strong deportation case against Mehul Choksi in Dominica but the whole legal process will take time,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.
The team -- comprising two Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers and representatives from the ministry of external affairs -- was rushed along with a cache of documents on evidence against Choksi in a hired Bombardier Global 5000 jet of Qatar Executive last Friday.
The officers were sent after Choksi, who fled India in 2018, was detained in Dominica on charges of illegally entering the island and Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the businessman should be deported directly to India.
For about seven days, the jet was parked at the airport to bring back Choksi, who is wanted in a ₹13,500 crore bank fraud case. But the India-born businessman is currently involved in two separate legal proceedings in Dominica, pending which he cannot be repatriated, say experts.