Cops probe honey trap diamond dealer ‘kidnap’
Brit is part of alleged Caribbean plot
POLICE are probing the alleged “honey trap” kidnap and torture of a millionaire jewel dealer on the run.
Scotland Yard is investigating after a human rights lawyer reported diamond magnate Mehul Choksi was kidnapped and tortured in Antigua. It is claimed a British citizen was part of the plot.
Lawyers for the Indian millionaire say he was lured to a villa, gagged, tasered, then tied to a wheelchair and beaten – before being bundled on a yacht and taken to Dominica, 110 miles away.
Torture falls under international laws that are investigated by the Metropolitan Police war crimes unit.
Mr Choksi’s legal team are fighting attempts to extradite him to his native India, where he is wanted for his alleged role in a £1billion banking scam.
London-based lawyer Michael Polak, who runs legal group Justice Abroad, told the Sunday Mirror there was evidence Mr Choksi, 62, was abducted by a group including a Brit and three foreign nationals who are UK residents.
A glamorous Hungarian property consultant based in London allegedly lured Mr Choksi to the Airbnb villa.
Mr Polak said: “We believe the aim was for him to be whisked away to India, bypassing proper legal process.” Mr
Choksi owned the Gitanjali Group, one of India’s biggest jewellers. He fled in 2018, shortly before being accused of a huge banking fraud alongside his nephew, jeweller Nirav Modi.
Mr Modi is currently in London’s Wandsworth Prison, appealing against extradition.
Mr Choksi was fighting the courts in Antigua, where he had taken out citizenship through an investment scheme and renounced his
Indian citizenship – which India says is not valid. Days after he was held in Dominica on charges of illegal entry, a jet chartered by India flew in, reportedly carrying documents to support his extradition.
Photos of him behind bars show a swollen eye and bruises on his hands. Mr Polak said: “As an Antiguan citizen kidnapped from Antigua, the only proper resolution is for him to be returned to Antigua so due process can be followed.”
The Met confirmed: “The war crimes unit has received a referral relating to allegations of torture.”