The identify Mehul Choksi has turn out to be synonymous with one among India’s largest monetary frauds. Often known as the mastermind behind the notorious Punjab Nationwide Financial institution (PNB) rip-off, Choksi’s story has taken folks abruptly. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India have been relentlessly pursuing Choksi. In line with current media studies, it was claimed that Choksi could have had staged his kidnapping to get an higher hand in opposition to extradition to India.
Choksi and the PNB Rip-off: A Fast Recap
Mehul Choksi, a once-prominent Indian diamantaire and proprietor of the Gitanjali Group, allegedly performed a central function in defrauding PNB of over Rs 12,000 crore alongside his nephew, Nirav Modi. The fraud, revealed on January 25, 2018, concerned fraudulent letters of endeavor (LoUs) that allowed Choksi and Modi to entry important credit score with out collateral. By the point PNB reported the crime, Choksi had already left India and brought refuge in Antigua and Barbuda, the place he obtained citizenship in late 2017. Since then, Choksi has remained a fugitive, evading the efforts of Indian authorities to convey him to justice underneath the Fugitive Financial Offenders Act.
Probe By Indian Authorities
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India have been relentlessly pursuing Choksi, seizing belongings and submitting a number of instances underneath the Fugitive Financial Offenders Act to get well losses incurred by PNB.
The ED has beforehand argued that Choksi meticulously deliberate his escape from India, acquiring Antigua’s citizenship months earlier than the rip-off grew to become public. In line with the company, his Antiguan citizenship and subsequent flight from India on January 2, 2018, have been half of a bigger plan to safe his freedom. Choksi’s authorized group, nevertheless, disputes this, claiming that his passport revocation prevented him from returning to India and that his flight was unrelated to the PNB case.
As reported by media shops like The Monetary Categorical and The Republic, the animated viral video talks about how Mehul Choksi absconded from Antigua and Barbuda in Might 2021. The video, not verified independently by Zee Information, alleged that Paul Stephane Emmanuel and Leonard Anthony Cole—who have been allegedly employed to move him to Cuba, a rustic which has no extradition treaty with India. The video claimed that Choksi deliberate his “kidnapping” to spark a brand new investigation to delay or halt his extradition, alongside along with his brother Chetan Chinubhai Choksi, they allegedly bribed officers within the Caribbean islands. The video claims that Jolly Harbour—the place Choksi supposedly ‘disappeared’—is lined with CCTV cameras and fencing, making a covert abduction practically unimaginable. It additionally means that Choksi employed an elite group of attorneys to fortify his narrative of victimhood, additional muddying the waters of reality.
