Mehul Choksi, a businessman wanted in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, has been arrested in Belgium. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) requested his arrest, and the Belgian authorities acted on it. India had asked for his extradition so he can face charges back home.
Choksi, who is 65 years old, was caught on Saturday and is now in jail in Belgium, waiting for further legal steps. The arrest happened based on two open warrants issued by a court in Mumbai — one in May 2018 and another in June 2021.
Choksi is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and had been living in Antwerp with his wife, Preeti. Reports say he left the Caribbean claiming he needed medical treatment.
Sources: Choksi Was Trying to Escape
According to sources, Choksi was arrested on April 12 while he was trying to run away to Switzerland. He had gone to Belgium, saying it was for cancer treatment. Indian authorities — the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) — had given Belgian police all the documents needed to prove he is a wanted criminal.
Choksi had left India in 2018 and had already become a citizen of Antigua before that. This isn’t his first arrest overseas — in 2021, he was held in Dominica but released after spending 51 days in jail.
Whistle-Blower Reacts to Arrest
Hariprasad SV, the whistle-blower who exposed the PNB scam, welcomed the news. He told Republic TV, “It’s great news for India. The government must bring him back so he can face the law. The victims must get their money back.”
He also said that bringing Choksi back won’t be easy. Choksi has access to top lawyers in Europe who may try to delay the extradition — similar to what’s happening with Vijay Mallya’s case.
Charges Against Choksi
Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, are accused of cheating PNB out of Rs 13,500 crore, making it one of India’s biggest banking scams. The scam was discovered in 2018, shortly after both men fled India. That same year, a special court issued arrest warrants against them.
Since then, several cases have been filed, and assets worth thousands of crores linked to Choksi have been seized. India is still trying to get him extradited.
Auction of Choksi’s Properties
In February, a special CBI court in Mumbai allowed the auction of properties owned by Gitanjali Gems Ltd, a company linked to Choksi. These include flats, offices, and commercial spaces in Mumbai and Surat.
The liquidator, Shantanu Ray, had asked for the auction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The judge agreed that selling the properties quickly was necessary to prevent their value from going down. The auction will be carried out under the liquidator’s supervision, with help from the ED, and will follow all legal steps.
