Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Fugitive Indian jeweller Mehul Choksi—wanted in connection with one of the country’s largest bank fraud cases—has been arrested in Belgium, according to a report by Reuters citing a source in India’s Enforcement Directorate.
Choksi, the former managing director of Gitanjali Gems and uncle of fellow fugitive billionaire Nirav Modi, is accused of playing a central role in a $1.8 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB), India’s second-largest state-run lender. The fraud was unearthed in 2018 at a single Mumbai branch of the bank and triggered a nationwide scandal involving high-profile business figures and top investigative agencies.
The Indian government had already sent an extradition request to Belgium before Choksi’s arrest. However, the source indicated that Choksi may challenge the extradition on medical grounds. Authorities believe that legal proceedings could be prolonged.
The scandal surfaced when PNB lodged a criminal complaint with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, accusing Choksi, Nirav Modi, and several associates of defrauding the bank through fraudulent letters of undertaking and credit guarantees.
Indian federal police subsequently filed formal charges against both Choksi and Nirav Modi. Both men have denied the allegations. In a letter written in 2018, Choksi claimed that India’s investigating agencies were “acting with pre-determined minds and interfering with the course of justice.” Attempts to reach Choksi’s legal counsel on Monday were unsuccessful.
Nirav Modi fled India around the same time the scandal broke and was later arrested in the United Kingdom in 2019. He remains in British custody and has already lost one appeal against his extradition to India.
The high-profile arrest comes amid India’s intensified international efforts to bring back fugitives accused of financial crimes and terrorism. Just last week, a Pakistani-born Canadian national accused of helping orchestrate the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks was extradited to New Delhi by the United States — marking the first such extradition in a terrorism case between the two countries.
Choksi’s arrest could pave the way for renewed momentum in India’s ongoing crackdown on economic offenders who have fled the country.
