Indian Billionaire Mehul Choksi Arrested in Belgium Over Scam Allegations

Indian businessman Mehul Choksi has been arrested in Belgium following India’s request for extradition.

Choksi, a diamond merchant, is wanted by India for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of nearly $1.8 billion.

Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, are accused of colluding with PNB employees to obtain fraudulent advances for payments to overseas suppliers, which were then allegedly diverted and laundered. Both Choksi and Modi have denied the allegations against them.

“These are the obvious grounds [on which we will argue the case], that he is not a flight risk and secondly, that he is extremely sick. He is undergoing cancer treatment,” Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said. Aggarwal added that they would “contest the extradition on grounds that there isn’t enough evidence against him and the extradition request is politically motivated and the trial in India may not be fair”.

“Apart from bringing him back, the most important thing is to get back all those billions of dollars he looted from India,” said Hariprasad SV, a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur who alerted authorities about the alleged scam.

BBC