09 July, 2025:
USA successfully extradited Monika Kapoor, the owner of the ‘Monika Overseas’, to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). After being on the run for 26 years, the CBI team is scheduled to bring Monika back to India this evening. By the squad, she will be proceeding to India on an American Airlines flight.
In 1999, Kapoor traveled to the USA following the suspected fraud involving her and her two brothers, Rajan Khanna and Rajiv Khanna, who allegedly created fake documents for their jewelry business. The forged documents were used to obtain permits from the Indian government for the purchase of duty-free gold.
On 31 March 2004, the CBI submitted a chargesheet in this matter, and a case was initiated under sections 120-B, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Later, on December 20, 2017, Rajan and Rajiv were found guilty. However, Monika chose not to take part in the investigation and trial, and on 13 February 2006, the court declared her a fugitive.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has approved her extradition based on the bilateral extradition agreement between India and the United States. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, later authorized a surrender warrant following the rejection of Kapoor's assertions that her return to India would probably lead to torture, which would consequently breach the United Nations Convention Against Torture as established by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (FARRA).
In October 2010, India reached out to the United States to request the extradition of Monika Kapoor. Officials also informed that this was due to the Extradition Treaty between the two nations. The reported fraud resulted in a loss exceeding $679,000 to the Indian treasury. The forged documents facilitated the acquisition of duty-free gold valued at approximately Rs 2.36 crore. Through this criminal plotting, they acquired Replenishment licenses for six duty-free gold imports. Subsequently, they sold these licenses at a higher price to Deep Exports, a company located in Ahmedabad that imported gold without paying duties. As a result, it has been reported that the government experienced a financial loss of approximately Rs 1.44 crore.
