62-year-old fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi is wanted in India in connection with a Rs 13,500-crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank (PNB).
The CBI acted on a complaint from Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) Ltd alleging that Choksi had approached it in 2016 seeking Rs 25 crore working capital loan for which he had pledged shares and gold and diamond jewellery.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the Centre, submitted before a bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar that the total proceeds of crimes in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases pending before the top court amounts to Rs 67,000 crore.
In an interview with news agency ANI, Mehul Choksi said, "I may be coerced and kidnapped once again, and taken to Guyana, where there is a strong Indian presence, which may be utilized to spirit me away in an unlawful and illegal manner."
Mehul Choksi, wanted in Rs 13,500 crore bank fraud case in India, had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he has been staying after fleeing India.
Choksi, wanted in a Rs 13,500 crore bank fraud case in India, had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen.
Fugitive diamond businessman Mehul Choksi was granted bail by Dominica High Court on medical grounds on Monday. The court was set to hear Choksi's bail plea on July 23, however, it was preponed following an application by the Indian diamantaire.
Choksi is having a clot in brain besides other health issues such as diabetes and hypertension, his legal team has submitted.
The court was set to hear Choksi's bail plea on July 23, however, it was preponed following an application by the Indian diamantaire.
Choksi, who went missing from Antigua and Barbuda where he had been living since 2018 after his escape from India, was arrested on May 23 in neighbouring Dominica for illegal entry.
Roosevelt Skerrit has termed "total nonsense" the claims that his government was involved in alleged abduction of diamantaire Mehul Choksi.
Investigation has also proved, says the ED, that these three accused persons used dummy entities controlled by them for rotation and siphoning off the funds provided by the banks.
"ED not only attached/ seized assets worth of Rs 18,170.02 crore (80.45 percent of total loss to banks) in case of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi under the PMLA but also transferred a part of attached/ seized assets of Rs 9,371.17 Crore to the PSBs and Central Government," the ED said in a tweet.
ED has attached assets worth of Rs 18,170.02 crore in case of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi under the PMLA. The agency has also transferred a part of attached assets to the PSBs and Centre.
The development is being seen as a ray of hope for India which has approached the Dominica High Court seeking to be impleaded as a party in the case filed by lawyers of Choksi whose bail plea was earlier rejected.
The Indian government is actively engaged with Dominica to seek early deportation of fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi and his handover to India, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
The charges include of criminal conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust, and illegal gratification by public servant.
"The abduction of Choksi is an international crime that has brought shame to Antigua and Barbuda," said UPP leader Harold Lovell while addressing a virtual meeting on Tuesday.
Mehul Choksi's UK lawyer Michael Polack on June 15 informed there are a lot of propaganda being put out stating that Choksi escaped or maybe he was on his way to Cuba but lawyer Polack believes that these claims are ridiculous.
The case of Choksi, who has been booked on charges of illegally entering the Caribbean nation, was heard by Chief Magistrate Candia Carette-George at the Magistrate's Court in Roseau.
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