INDIA IN TOUCH WITH DOMINICA TO BRING BACK CHOKSI: OFFICIALS
NEW DELHI: India is in touch with the governments of Dominica, and Antigua & Barbuda to bring back fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi from the Caribbean region, officials aware of the developments said on Thursday.
Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne has asked Dominica to declare fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi as persona non grata and directly repatriate him to India, Antiguan media reported. Choksi was apprehended on Caribbean Dominica island after going missing from Antigua & Barbuda, the country of his citizenship about 101 nautical miles away, on Sunday.
Browne was quoted as telling local media that he has told Dominica that his country will not accept Choksi, who sought refuge in Antigua and Barbuda after allegedly cheating Punjab National Bank of ₹13,578 crore.
Choksi is currently under the custody of Dominica’s Criminal Investigation Department.
His lawyer, advocate Vijay Aggarwal, said that as per sections 17 and 23 of the Immigration and Passport Act, Choksi can only be deported to Antigua and not India.
NEW DELHI: Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has asked neighbouring Dominica, where fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi was caught, to hand the diamantaire over to India directly, local media reported.
After news of Choksi’s arrest in Dominica came on Tuesday night (local time), Browne told local media that he has given “clear instructions” to the Dominican authorities to repatriate Choksi to India.
“We asked them not to repatriate him to Antigua. He needs to return to India where he can face the criminal charges levelled against him,” Antigua News Room, a media outlet, quoted Browne’s interaction with journalists in Antigua and Barbuda.
Choksi will not have the same rights in Dominica as he has in Antigua and Barbuda, where he had been staying since 2018 after taking citizenship in 2017 under the Citizenship by Investment programme, Browne indicated.
The prime minister believes for this reason, it would be easy for Dominica to repatriate him directly to India, the report said.
Choksi, who had recently fled from Antigua and Barbuda, was captured after an Interpol Yellow Notice was issued against him.
A Yellow Notice is issued by the Interpol to track missing persons.
Choksi, who is wanted in a ₹ 13,500-crore loan fraud in the Punjab National Bank, was last seen going for dinner in his car in Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday.
His staff had reported him missing after his car was found. The businessman’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, had confirmed that Choksi had been missing since Sunday.
Responding to the opposition, Prime Minister Browne had said his dispensation was “collaborating” with the Indian government, neighbouring countries and international police organisations to try and locate him.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi allegedly siphoned off ₹13,500 crore of public money from the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) using fraudule t letters of undertaking.